Hackers Alike
by Drime
Summary: Set sometime in the three years the Autobots were on Earth before they met the humans. Raf is a awesome hacker who meets a new online friend. Soundwave is a bored mech with nothing to do. Lets see what happens, hmmm? Cover image is Hack and Raf.
1. Chapter 1

Keys on a keyboard click and clack, sounding out whenever one is pressed. A short human boy stares intently at the screen, watching carefully as long strings of numbers fly by. The small boy, no older than twelve, pushes his red rectangular glasses up his face. Shaking off any fear or nervousness that is present in his head, Raf continues his hacking.

He carefully enters the complex security of the network. Skirting around the more safeguarded areas he searches for his target. Finally, he found the file has been looking for. One of the less powerful telescopes that NASA had left in space after sending up a stronger one. Raf quickly gains control over the bit of machinery and starts to receive a live feed from it. His eyes widen at the amazing view of the stars. A few taps on the keyboard allow him to get a better focus on the universe beyond. This beauty is the one thing he had come his computer gives him a warning bleep, he notices that someone at NASA has noticed him in the system. Raf quickly retreats, smiling at the image now stuck in his head. He had gotten what he had come for and did not particularly care to get caught.

-Rafael, Human-

School is one of the worst places in Raf's life, right after sporting events and right before full family reunions. The fact that he had been pushed up from Middle School to Highschool at his age makes all things hard. It is hard for Raf to find people who are interested in the same things as him and are willing to hang out with someone that is so much younger and smaller.

Raf enters his science teacher's classroom early. Mr. Gray is in and most bullies preferred to be late to class or never arrive at all. Raf sits in his seat still feeling pride from his achievement. Not many people could hack NASA and not get caught. He looks around the almost empty classroom, wishing he had some friends to share the news with. Raf begins imagining a conversation with a made up friend, telling them how amazing the stars looked through the telescope. Raf pops back into reality as stands up and starts teaching the class. Realizing that it is material he already knows by heart. Slowly he drifts back into fantasy land. And so Raf's day goes, slipping through the halls silent as a reaper and entering classes without any emotion entering his zombie daze.

Seven long hours later, school lets out with a loud ring. Raf grabs his stuff and moving quickly through the maze of halls. He has been able to avoid bullies all day wishes to continue doing so. Unfortunately, Vince, a boy who thought he was the coolest person alive and so above nerdy dweebs, decides that he wants some cash. Before Raf could can make it out of the building, Vince grabs him by the shirt collar. Yanking him hard into an abandoned classroom, Vince towers over Raf.

"Give me money, now!"

Raf puts hand into his front pocket, pulling out the five dollar bill he always keeps there for this kind of event. He pulls it out and hands it to Vince without a word. Vince laughs then punches Raf in the stomach and walks out of the classroom. Raf leans over wheezing. He shakes himself slightly and stands up straight. He had taken harder hits than this. As Raf exits the building, he realizes that he had his left remote control car at home. He sighs and starts planning what to do when he got home. Since racing down by the bridge is out of the question without a car and having done all his homework, Raf decides he's going to mess around on his computer for the evening. Raf begins walking down the street, mind already whirring with possibilities.

-Soundwave, Decepticon-

Soundwave is bored. True he is in a giant war with the Autobots, but that meant little to his processor. Honestly, he had only joined Lord Megatron because he was bored. He believed in some off what the cybertronian warlord had to say, but belief had not been enough to sway him to join the war effort, only enough to guide him in choosing a side. Boredom was the true decider in the whole matter. With a nearly inaudible sigh, Soundwave quietly mourns his position. Nothing interesting, to him anyways, had happened for the last 146 horns of this war. No challenges had come up in his work. The beginning of the war had been without a second of boredom. But now, Soundwave lets out another quiet sigh.

Silently, as it is always with him, he continues on with his work of finding out every possible important piece of information about the planet below the warship. He fights the urge to start banging his head against the terminal out of complete boredom. The simpleness of this planet's species firewalls is causing him to want to grab the beings and upload some better sense into them. Earth, as the planet is called by the more "intelligent' lifeforms is very boring to Soundwave. Oh, he knew it is of strategic importance to the Decepticon. He just really didn't care.

To an outside observer, such as the vehicon on another nearby terminal, Soundwave looks the same as ever. Diligently working and absolutely silent. On the inside, however, Soundwave is going slightly crazy from being bored and stuck on the same ship for over three meta-cycles. If he really wanted to he could probably list down to the astrosecond how long he had been inside the ship. Lazerbeak, sensing her master's angst, whispers to him a suggestion to help him a little. Nodding slightly and sending a wave of gratitude to Lazerbeak, he begins hacking into one of the telescopes that circles the planet. To his surprise, he finds the defences of the machine more complex than any he had tried to hack for a long time. His optics under his mask light up, reveling in the challenge. Boredom is blown away as the mech loses himself in trying to break the code. Lazerbeak settles in for a recharge, glad of her master's new happiness.

-Rafael, Human-

Raf had wanted to see the stars again. They looked so much more spectacular through the telescope than they did from the ground. After he had hacked through the system again, he set up his own protection around the telescope. This time he wanted to be able to stay longer in the telescope without being caught.

Hours later Raf continues watching the stars , making the telescope every couple of minutes to get a different view. His computer alerts him to someone else hacking his protection barrier. Frowning slightly, he spots that it doesn't seem to be NASA. He knew what steps they took when routing out hackers in their system. The style was more like another hacker wanting in. The guys at NASA probably had not even noticed that their telescope's controls are in another's hands. Raf feels curiosity burning in his mind, wondering who else would want to use this particular telescope.

'Do they want to stargaze too?' Raf thinks quietly as his computer beeps out a warning. Deciding to have some fun with whoever else it is, he begins beefing up his security around the telescope. In response, the other hacker starts burning through his defenses quicker. It soon got to be at such a rate that Raf is unable to keep the defenses up. The other hacker broke through, taking control of the telescope from Raf. Interested in what the other hacker would do now that they have possession of the telescope, Raf watches quietly. He then sees the angle of the telescope shift and change. A message pops up on his screen, shocking him into falling of his seat. After regaining his seat, Raf carefully read the message.

-Who are you?-

Raf tilts his head and narrows his eyes slightly confused. Why would they bother asking? To be safe Raf decides not to give his full real name. don't reveal your real identity on the internet, or on a telescope in this case. A second after this thought passes through Raf's head he realizes that the other hacker could probably hack him if he wanted his identity any way.

-The name's Raf. Whats yours?-

-Hello Raf. Call me Hack.-

-Cool name. You here for the stars Hack?-

-Yes. Your defense system around the satellite was very good.-

-Eh. They obviously were not good enough. Your hacking skills on the other hand are amazing.-

-Soundwave, Decepticon-

Soundwave's optics widen under his mask at Raf's response. This being did not understand exactly how strong his defences were compared to that of his kind. Even compared to some of the Autobots defences. The complement on his skill felt nice, not like the compliments he got from his Lord which all were said to encourage loyalty. Soundwave smiles, happy to be recognized for a job well done, especially since it's from the force he had hacked into. Not that he is going to let it go to his head, or else he might turn out something like Starscream. Soundwave winces internally at the thought of the other mech. Mentally shaking his processor clear, he returns his focus to his chat. The other being is beginning to heavily interested him.

-Thank you.-

A few second pass without a reply as Soundwave continues his other duties as Chief Communications/Surveillance officer.

Your welcome. I have to get off soon, but do you want to meet somewhere on the net later Hack?-

Disappointment at the other beings impending departure swims through Soundwave. He quickly realizes that, yes, he wanted to meet this other being again.

-Yes.-

-Here, , this is a chatroom website I visit often. My usernames raftechninja. When you see me there tell me "remember the telescope" and I'll realize it's you. See you there! :)-

Soundwave saves the website name and the message to his hard drive. Quickly he accesses the website and creates an account. Lazerhack. Soundwave mentally shrugs. The name seems no stranger than any other username that humans create. Soundwave retains control over the telescope for another two klicks.'Finally,' he thinks to himself, 'I have found something interesting.' Soundwave smiles behind his mask as he walks to his quarters. Lying on his birth, he closes his eyes for recharge, excitement burning in his spark. The boredom has left him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Thanks for the epic reviews. I'm working to create several more chapters in this story and have absolutely no idea what I'm doing with this thing plot wise. A speceal thanks to the girlwhocriesoverantmanleavinngtheavengersonthetvshowandissuperexitedaboutthemovie. You've been the best help with ideas. I don't own Transformers Prime, and if I did Soundwave would have come back from the Shadow realm in the movie.**

Raf loves weekends. Most High Schoolers do. All day Raf had been thinking about the other person he had met at the telescope. He fervently hopes that they'll be online by the time he gets home. Carefully he considers not going racing with his model car. He shakes his head.

'I've already gone one day without testing the new wiring I put in. Besides I have all weekend to be online and wait for Hack.' After an hour of testing out his model car, Raf decides it functions well enough and hurries home. His computer whirrs to life and Raf quickly clicks through to the website he had told Hack about. Raf knew that, yeah, maybe meeting up online with someone who had hacked into NASA is probably a bad idea all around. Raf grins slightly. His mother had said the same thing about hacking the US Military, except she was especially firm about it being a horrible idea. His punishment for that act was a week without tech and a long tirade about why he really should not be hacking into places that could come after him and murder the whole family in their beds. He shivers slightly, hoping Hack has no plans to kill him or his multitude of family members.

Raf waits in one of the empty chat rooms, humming a song softly beneath his breath. A few minutes later someone else enters the room. Raf notices the username, Lazerhack. Interesting, but not necessarily a dead on hint that this is Hack. Raf waits for the other person to speak first.

-Soundwave, Decepticon-

Soundwave has had another boring day. He reported his most important findings about Earth to Starscream, while keeping silent about this human is seen as a threat, well bye bye to to the only interesting thing in the universe to Soundwave and hello another couple hundred vorns of boredom. Soundwave feels a shudder run through his frame at the idea. A nearby vehicon backs up, unused to any outward signs of emotion from Soundwave. The object of fear continues down the corridor to his quarters without noticing. Soundwave can not wait to get on his personal terminal and find the human. Lazerbeak watches on, interest for her master's excitement driving her curiosity. Soundwave pets Lazerbeak on the head and focuses his attention on the screen. He searches through the chat rooms available on the website Raf had told him to go to. Giving each one a few seconds to yield results, Sound wave quickly runs through the website.

Ten minutes in and Soundwave finds him. Excitement buzzing in his spark chamber, Soundwave types in the code words that reveal him as Hack. Quietly he waits for Raf to reply.

-Hi Hack!-

Soundwave returns the greeting a slight pause drifts into the online conversation. Feeling the impending boredom slinking slowly towards him, Soundwave barely hesitates as he types in a question, hoping for a positive response.

-Can you set up another defense system around something so that I can hack it? I want to hone my skills.-

The honing was a lie. He just needed another challenge before his processor become so bored it shut down.

-I don't believe your skills need honing. Mine do though, so give me a minute.-

-Rafael, Human-

Raf searches for a place to hack into then defend from the inside.'It needs to be a place that's easily hacked into in the first place and a place no one will notice. Oh I know!'

A few strokes of the keyboard and he's inside the system for a Middle school in the next state over. He quickly starts sets up a weaker barrier at the entrance of the system, partially to confuse Hack and partially to allow any one who was checking on the system in more easily. Then he sets up a barrier around the principal's file, trying to make it more complex than the one from yesterday. After setting up both of the barriers he sends a message to Hack, informing him of the school and that the goal is to take the principal's file.

Three minutes later his outer defense is torn down. Raf grins as he works on keeping up the defenses of the second barrier while trying to create a third and final barrier.

-Soundwave, Decepticon-

This human provided an excellent challenge for non complexity of the first barrier did disappoint Soundwave, that is true, but the second wall of defenses provides him with an interesting challenge. The complexity of the barrier makes Soundwave halt some of his less meaningful searches . His optics behind his mask glitter madly, showing his excitement. But to all other cybertronians, if they could see him, that is, since he is in his quarters, he looks completely like normal. No emotion escapes from behind the mask he wears, nor do they escape through his frame. He notices the defenses deeper into the barrier are increasing in complexity and are adapting slightly to his hacking.

'An adapting system? Fascinating that Raf is able to detect a pattern in my hacking. Very fascinating. Not something I can't counter, but still….'

Soundwave begins to subtly change his hacking style so he slips past the adapting wall. He starts moving faster through the layers of code, making sure that each time he broke a code line he changed his style slightly. After breaking through the second barrier, his optics widen fractionally at the sight of a third wall.

'My initial scan only showed two barriers. Raf was able to create a third wall while defending against me! Thats a bit of a shock.'

Soundwave sets about breaking past the final barrier. His scans show that there is not one beyond, but perhaps the human would use the same technique twice. Soundwave sifts through the coding, trying to work his way in. His first attempt to enter the final barrier ends in failure, surprising the silent mech. He tries entering again with his scanners focusing on the movement of the code in reaction to his entering. He is once again unable to enter, but this time he can see why. This barrier was created from data collected about his hacking from the other two walls of code. This is very similar to a technique used by some of the best code makers on Cybertron. The familiarity of the firewall pattern stalls Soundwave for an astrosecond.

Its not exactly like those Cybertronian defenses; those had hundreds of layers of firewalls, each taking information about any hacker in the system and transferring it to the next firewall. By the time most mechs or femmes got to the tenth wall, the system knew their style of hacking very well and was able to block them completely. Soundwave was one of the few on Cybertron that was able to completely change their style of hacking in the middle of a system and break past the firewalls. This ability had helped elevate him to his position in the Decepticon army.

Less than an hour later Soundwave has gotten through the final barrier. The data about the principle is collected and then he backs out of the system. Both hacker's return to the chat room they had previously been in.

-Wow! You broke through those firewalls like a wrecking ball smashing into a building. I never had a chance.-

Soundwave tilts his helm slightly, allowing the compliment to sink to his spark chamber. Then he types in his response.

-If I am a wrecking ball, your buildings made out of a magnesium based alloy. It was a really well built defense system.-

-Sure it was.-

He tilts his helm again, confused as to why the human always is putting down their own skill. Such actions were unhealthy when continuously applied and where actually believed by the beings processor. Gently he taps his servo against his personal terminal. It is a shame that he was unable to force this smart creature to accept its abilities.

-They were the most difficult walls I have hacked through in a while.-

Sometimes adding a bit more truth can help the other believe in your compliments. Soundwave pounders how he could further convince Raf of his skill level. Meanwhile he starts up a few of the searches he had halted during the competition.

-Have you tried the Pentagon? The base of the coding is far simpler then I had expected from the military, but some files are more difficult to get into.-

-Which ones?-

Soundwave is curious to find out what had stumped the other hacker. He silently wonders what Raf's age is and where he learned to hack. He felt a sharp tug from his curiosity that is just begging him to hack into Raf's systems and find out everything about him. Soundwave shoves the feeling away, frowning beneath the mask. The human would likely be offended that Soundwave had hacked his system and would refuse to create any more challenges. That would be completely unacceptable.

-Well the one labeled E.T.A.I. I was interested by the strange acronym,but the coding for it was WAY beyond my level. *-* -

Soundwave's optics widen slightly, wondering how he could have missed such a strangely titled file. He knew the autobots probably had contacted the United States Government when the arrived on this world. He knew from the trajectory of their ship they had landed somewhere in the USA. Perhaps this file has some sort of connection to the Autobots. He increases his hacking of the Pentagon, trying to figure out the location of the file. Most of Soundwave's attention stays focused on Raf.

I might have to test it if you say it's difficult.-

-Yeah be my guest Hack. Tell me if you spot anything that is interesting. I gotta go. I'll be on tomorrow morning. Lets friend each other on this website so we can find each other faster tomorrow.-

-I'll be here then Raf. See you.-

-Bye Hack.-

Soundwave accepts the friend request sent to him, noting that it alerted him whenever Raf gets online. He logs off and starts up more of his searches. He wants to to get his report for Starscream over with as early as possible. A sigh passes through his systems as he thinks of Lord Megatrons power hungry second in command. Hopefully Lord Megatron would return from deep space and replace Starscream as leader of the ship soon. Settling in for a long period of boring research, Soundwave locks his leg joints and lets himself fall into the world of code.

-Rafael, Human-

Raf awakens with a groan, weariness biting at the inside of his eyes. He had been up really late last night with Hack. His hand grabs his glasses and he pushes them over his cinnamon brown eyes. Crossing his arms beneath his head, Raf stares at the dull white ceiling above him. His nose detects the smell of pancakes being made in the kitchen. Rubbing his eyes once more, Raf gets up and sleepily stumbles to the kitchen. Deciding to wait till after breakfast to get online and talk to Hack, Raf sits down at the large table. Raf pours maple syrup all over his food while smiling, as two of his sibling start to squabble over who had more pancakes. He yawns once more, content to be among family and glad of the promise of a new friend.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: I researched different names of the shades of brown and found Rafs. -Shrugs- It happened. Now Im going to try to call all colors by their correct shade. A special thanks to thegirlwhothinksultronsheadshouldbemoreantlike. Your help with ideas is awesome. A super special thanks to theladywhoissuperepicatandiskindenoughtoeditmystory, with out her everything about this story would be messed up. Thanks for the helpful reviews. Especially yours Kiseopple.**

 **In response to the review about the Shadowzone from a guest, that's really nice of you for thinking the story will get that far. I have disscussed this idea with thegirlwhothinksultronsheadshouldbemoreantlike and have no definate ideas about it. I dont have any about anything really. Sorry about this note's length. I don't own TF:P. If I did Soundwave and Raf would have interacted more.**

The computer screen slowly whirs to life after several hours of rest. Raf taps the keyboard impatiently, wishing his computer would reboot faster. Gently yawning, Raf leans back in his seat. With his stomach still full and warm from pancakes, his eyes struggle to stay open, generously weighted by the late bedtime of the previous night. Raf fights to stay awake and alert. A soon as the computer loads, he logs onto the chat website. He slips into a chat room, right as the world starts to blur heavily. Raf rubs his face furiously , pushing down his weariness as he spots the familiar username.

'Yes. He's online. Wait, am I even sure that Hack is a guy?'

Raf thinks back to all the conversations that he has had with the other hacker and realizes that, no, he had never discovered the gender of Hack. Curiosity burns back a little of the tiredness, allowing Raf to focus on the computer screen and on the keyboard.

-We know very little about each other, do we Hack?-

-Yes. Why? Are you asking to find out more?-

-Uh...Yes. But not to much, you know with this being the internet and all.-

Raf bites back a yawn, scrunching up his tired eyes. He runs a hand through his gravity defying caramel and gingerbread brown hair, sighing softly.

-I see. What do we need to know about each other?-

-Some general stuff like gender, what country we are in, favorite color and favorite food. I think all of those are pretty noninvasive questions, Hack. What do you think?-

-They are. I'll go first. Male, USA, purple and I have none.-

-Male, USA,yellow and chimichangas. How can you not have a favorite food?-

-I don't typically care about what my food is as long as it fills me.-

-Thats really intriguing.-

After typing in the reply, everything goes black for Raf. His face falls onto the keyboard, smashing keys down. A soft sigh escapes him as his glasses slowly begin to slide off his face. A few seconds later a gentle snore rolls out from his message comes through from Hack, but is completely unnoticed by the sleeping boy.

-Soundwave, Decepticon-

Soundwave stares at his screen, feeling worried about the human on the other side. He had not answered his last message yet, and it has been over four klicks. Normally Raf would have responded by now. His servos freeze over the terminal as a horrifying thought enters his processor.

'What if Raf has died somehow?'

Harshly, Soundwave pushes away the thought, frowning at himself for jumping to such crazy conclusions like a youngling. He steps back mentally and begins analyzing the situation, to see what he could do. The lack of options starts a spark of anger inside of Soundwave. He curls his servos into fists and waits patiently for Raf to get back on, ignoring his earlier rushed thought of Raf being dead. Another five klicks of Soundwave patiently waiting with his anger and worry slowly growing, a message from Raf enters the screen. The sight of it sends waves of relief through the mech. A few joints that he had not noticed lock become unlocked with the comfort of knowing that Raf is still out there. Slowly Soundwave reads the message, revealing in the reassurance the message gave him.

-Sorry. I fell asleep on my computer. Now I have keys imprinted on the side of my face! Sigh.-

'Fell asleep on the computer? Perhaps Raf doesn't need to be kept up so late. I would not want to cause damage to his central processor.'

-Next time I will not keep you up so late.-

-Aw, come on Hack! It was a Friday night, the only time I'm able to stay up really late.-

-You need to sleep to function properly.-

-Sleeps overrated.-

Behind his mask soundwave narrows one optic, making his face look like a humans when one eyebrow is razed. He looks doubtfully at the others comment.

-Really Raf?-

-...No...Sleeps not overrated..-

-Ever one has to sleep, even you Raf.-

A slight grin works its way onto Soundwaves faces faceplates. This is advice often he often got from Lazerbeak when he spent too long on a terminal. Often she would pester him until he went to his berth and settled in for a recharge.

-Yeah I know. But I like staying up really late, it makes me feel in control.-

\- In control of what?-

Soundwave feels his attention get dragged away from hack to the Pentagon file. He had been sifting through their network trying to find the file. When he had found it, he proceeded in hacking it. Now he is finally past the last layer of encryption around the files and the data from the file is spilling into his processor like water freed from a dam. Quickly, Soundwave runs through the info, plucking out the bits that are most important to the Decepticon cause. He had been right in thinking that the file is about the Autobots. Sadly, it did not reveal the location of their base. Briskly Soundwave returns to the conversation he is having with Raf. Scanning the response sent to him by Raf, Soundwave readies his reply.

-I feel in control of my life Hack.-

-Are you not in control any ways Raf?-

-Not always.-

Soundwave is confused, quietly staring at his screen. What could possibly mean, unless….

-You are a minor.-

-Um. No comment.-

-Rafael, Human-

Raf blushes as he looks at the screen, worrying that he has revealed too much to the other hacker. He shifts in his rolling chair, slightly nervous. Dealing with people on the internet can be tricky business. Especially considering the fact that Hack is a really good hacker. Pausing, Raf considers the very real fact that Hack could have hacked his system and found out everything about him. The thought increases Raf's feelings of nervousness. He breathes deeply, calming himself down. Silently, he looks up at the solar system poster that hangs over his desk. Raf leans back in his chair, rubbing his eyes

-We can stop this line of conversation if you want Raf.-

-Yes,let's.-

Relief flows gently through Rafs systems, causing him to sigh. The two hackers start chatting about other topics, ignoring the route the conversation had previously been going in. the talk about the most recent developments in computer technology. Raff gushe over the newest Apple laptop, excitedly chatting with Hack about all the awesome features. Happily, Raf discovers that Hack enjoys keeping up with all the newest tech out there. Hours later, when the sun has long been set beyond the horizon, Raf is forced to log off. He apologizes to his online friend and promises to get on in the morning.

-No.-

Raf looks at the screen, blinking at his screen in confusion.

-Why not?-

-You need to sleep more. Get on in the afternoon, after you are truly awake. I don't want to deal with another situation like the one earlier when you fell asleep. -

-Fine, but I never thought you would be such a worrier Hack.-

-You caused the situation that was the source of the worry.-

-I'm sorry about that Hack. I really need to get off now. Bye-

-The Universe, Out there-

A week passes with the two hackers meeting up every afternoon on the net. Both are pleased with the new excitement it adds to their lives. Soundwave finally has something interesting to look forward to in his boring existence of hacking overly simple human systems. Raf has at last found a friend who appreciates his skills and can relate to the things he talks about. Every night Soundwave strictly forces Raf to log on at a certain time to ensure that he gets enough sleep. He also makes sure Raf goes out with his model car after finding out that Raf had stopped racing it just to talk to him. Even though these measures makes there be less time for both to converse, Soundwave knows Raf needs them. To stay indoors and not get a lot of sleep is not healthy for a human; at least that's what the medical sites say. Raf is able to wheedle his friend into letting him stay up late on Friday night in exchange for a hacking challenge. Soundwave accepts Rafs offer, enjoying the challenge fully.

The next few weeks follow in the same pattern, with conversations riding through a variety of topics. Most where technical conversations where both beings suggested better ways of hacking and defending network systems to each other. Sometimes Raf would ask for advice on how to make his model car faster or more maneuverable. Sometimes Soundwave would ask what places Raf has hacked recently. Both gain confidence and trust in the other. Eventually, Raf accidentally lets it slip that he's in high school. It takes a day or so to talk normally to Soundwave again. But after that little incident, nothing has shaken the two's friendship.

Raf's mother finds out about the friendship and encourages it, after warning her baby the dangers of people on the internet, of course.

"Don't believe everything this other boy is telling you. I don't want you to be hurt by him. Tell me if he ever says something mean to you and I'll rip him apart!"

Raf's mom is glad and slightly impressed by the bedtime put in place by her son's new friend. She is pleased that the other boy cared for her son's health. Raf is completely embarrassed when his mother uses his account to talk directly to Hack. Warning him of swift revenge, should he ever cause harm to her baby boy. Soundwave saves the message and stores it with all the other messages from his many conversations with Raf. He finds it interesting that Raf's mother has gotten involved and is so protective of her son.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's note: I'm super siked about how many people have seen this and reviewed, liked, and favorited. Thanks so much! Also I think the ends a cliff hanger, kinda. I'm not to good at those. A special thanks to thegirlwholoveswatchingmarvelmovies. The help with ideas is awesome. A super special thanks to theladywhoissuperepicatandiskindenoughtoeditmystory. This story would not fully exist without you. One question, how many of you readers think I know alot about hacking? Just curious. Oh. There's a picture on deviantart Titled Soundwave's New Pet. If there's a story for this picture then I want to read it. Also might not up date for a while but I am still writing. Not giving up!**

 **Sorry for shortness and any OCCness my story contains. I don't own TF:P. If I did, humans would be involved in the final movie. I missed Raf. Now story time.**

Raf limps slowly home from school, not bothering to go and play by the bridge. He winces as fiery pain twirls up his leg. A single tear slips from his eyes, dashing down his cheek as he continues walking down the road. Raf focuses on the fact that his house is only a little further down the street. More tears start burning against his eyes, hot and painful as a inferno. Raf holds them back vigilantly.

Vince had wanted money and Raf had forgotten to restock his emergency stash. Raf breathes sharply as he remembers the beating that ensued afterwards. The multiple kicks to his legs and chest had left nasty bruises. Raf feels them with every step he takes closer to home. A second tear dances around his barrier and slips down the side of his face. He wipes his face hastily, rage starting to build in the pit of his stomach.

When he enters the house, he moves as quickly as he can to to his room. His mother notices his odd behavior. Normally Raf would have said hello and stayed out after school longer. She frowns, wiping her floury hands on a spare rag in the kitchen. Mrs. Esquivel walks into Raf's bedroom right as he lifts up a pillow and hurls it across room. He sits down on his bed, curling into a tight ball. Tears of rage, pain, and sorrow flee from his eyes, dashing down his cheeks like runners that have seen the finish line. Sobs wrack his body causing the bed to shake beneath him. Raf screams into his knees, raging against the school, against bullies, and against himself. His injuries scream for him to stop shaking, but he cannot.

His mother walks over to him and sits down. Comfortingly she begins stroking his hair. Raf lifts his head, letting his voice ring out from his strained vocal cords. Sobs interrupted his words, but do not cause them to be any less angry.

"I hate it! No one wants to be my friend. Im the most bullied in school! Why do I bother going there? I hate my life!"

"It can't be all bad Raffy, you have Hack don't you?'"

" He's only on the computer. I never seen him, spoken to him in real life or anything. For all I know he could be a robot that's online!"

" You don't really believe that he's a robot, do you?"

"No…"

"Well to prove without a doubt you would have to meet him. Would that make you happy?"

Raf's mother smiles as her son stops his crying due to shock. She felt horrible for putting her son in a position that made him get bullied. All the injuries he had tried to hide from her in the past had been crystal clear to her. This is the first time he son had spoken out his inner feeling about what is happening to him at school. He looks up at her shock shining in his eyes.

"Are you serious Mom?"

"Very. If we can manage to convince him to meet you and it's in a place you both can reach that's public, I think it would be fine. I would be there to make sure nothing bad happens."

"Thank you mom!"

"Come on! Get online and ask him right now! "

"Im not sure he would be on yet. I normally don't meet him online till an hour after school. He normally gets on right after I do."

'No harm in trying, ?"

"Right"

Raf nods, half to his mother half to himself, then gets on his computer. He logs onto the chat room, hoping his friend will come. Gently he tugs on the hem of his shirt, fiddling with the loose strings. Three minutes later the username Lazerhack pops onto the screen.

-Why are you on so early Raf?-

-I wanted to ask you a question.-

-And that question is?-

-Do you want to meet in real life? Well, If we live near each other I mean.-

-You chose a place and I'll find a way there.-

-I dont want to cause you to travel a long distance just to see me, Hack.-

-Where Raf?!-

-Jasper Park, Jasper Nevada.-

-Soundwave, Decepticon-

Soundwave smiles at the recent turn of events. He stands quietly at his terminal, grinning at the thought of meeting Raf in real life. Well semi-real life. He is sending a hologram in place of a giant Cybertronian, deciding it would freak his friend out much less. From the data he had collected from research of human movies, typically a meeting of such would end horribly for both parties involved.

Two weeks after he had first started talking to Raf, Soundwave had realized that there was a very real possibility of the human wanting to meet him in real life. Upon having the thought, Soundwave began designing a holoform for himself. He had kept it in his quarters, hiding it from all others. Not that he'd ever tell Raf, he had traced where Rafs messages had been coming from. He stopped at the city level, not wanting Raf to notice some one tracking his internet messages. Being the super prepared boyscout Cybertronian he was, Soundwave had purchased a house on the outskirts of a city a little over five miles away called Mercury. This house was for the highly likely situation of Raf wanting to go to his house or asking where he lived. By shifting a few numbers around, he had created several bank accounts, that added together are filled with enough money to last him several human lives. Carefully he covered his tracks, taking care to edit the bank's history to make it seem like the accounts had always been there. This is where he got the money from to buy the house and the car he had. Finally, after doing all this work ,Soundwave had sent the holoform to the house for storage. Soundwave returns to the present and answers the message

-Thats not far from my house. Meet you there tomorrow at about this time. Is that okay with you?-

Soundwave begins planning what time he needed to turn in his reports tomorrow in order to get off duty in time. A ember of happiness dances its way around his spark as he sees the reply he had been hoping for.

-Yes.-

A pause and second message from Raf comes through.

-My Mom will be there, so don't think about kidnapping. Not that you were of course. How will we know each other?-

-Bring your yellow model car and sit on a bench with it. I'll find you.-

-How will I know its you? Some stranger might come up to me you know.-

-Your right. I'll come up to you and say I'm Hack. Easy enough?-

-Easy peasy.-

-See you there Raf.-

-Bye Hack. See you.-

Both log off. Soundwave nods his helm once and starts going into overdrive to get all his work done sooner. He would hate to be late in meeting the most fascinating human this planet had to offer. Lazerbeak grins mentally to herself, glad that she had advised her master when she had. The last couple of orns had seen her master happier than he had been in vorns.


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry that it's taken me so long to update….Though comparatively there are other stories out there that make you wait much longer. I was away from internet and computers for a week, so I typed nothing. I was still working on the story while I was gone though. You see, I hand write every chapter on notebook paper first, then type and edit later. I have up to Chapter 10(which is throwing me for a loop) and just got to get the time and stamina to do it all. So, yeah…. That is my apology/excuse thing. Also I got an google drive app that was supposed to allow me to type anywhere in my house at any time but it crashes more often then a two year old coming down from a sugar high.**

 **I have a favor to ask off those who read through this chapter and bother with Author's notes. Tell me something Hack and Raf can do together as friends. If I think the idea is good Ill use it in my so called magic chapter. Ill give your ideas credit thing to you. I just need a wee bit of help. Ideas are hard to come by and super expensive. So thanks!**

 **A special thanks to thegirlwhothinksultronsheadshouldbemoreantlike. Your help with ideas is awesome. A super special thanks to theladywhoissuperepicatandiskindenoughtoeditmystory, with out her everything in this story would no longer exist. Sorry about long Authors notes. I know I don't like reading these all that much myself.**

Raf swings his legs back and forth as he sits on the park bench. HIs mother watches from another bench a couple of of yards down the path. Close enough to watch her son, but far enough to let him speak privately. Staring quietly down at his model car, Raf curls his fingers tighter around it. He breathed deeply, trying to calm his frazzled nerves. Raf closes his eyes, smelling the fresh air around him.

The sound of someone tapping his car causes him to jerk his eyes open. A teenage boy stands right in front of him. His charcoal black hair is gently tousled by the soft wind, the dark purple tips swishing back and forth. A pair of dark blue glasses cover his eyes . Despite the warmth of the day, this boy is wearing a black leather jacket on top of a darker black long sleeved area of the sleeve right at the end has three bands of purple that is the same shade of the tips of his hair. A sliver bandolier with purple pockets sewn into it stretches across his chest. All in all he looks to be about fifthteen. The teenager leans back from his bent position of tapping the car.

"I'm Hack. "

-Soundwave, Decepticon-

When Soundwave had entered the park, he really had no idea what Raf would look like. It had taken him a while to notice the small boy holding a yellow model car sitting on a bench. A mere sparkling had created some of the most fascinating challenges that had been seen in centuries? HIs indigo optics, er well eyes, had widened from behind his darkly tinted sunglasses. He watched then small being for a minute, memorizing all the details about him. The small creatures had its eyes closed , concealing their color. The red rectangular glasses stand out brightly in contrast to his skin color.

Curiosity struck Soundwave as he looked at the small boys caramel and ginger brown hair. It defied gravity, leaning upwards and backwards and ending in a point. From all of the boys body movements, Soundwave could tell he was very nervous. Quietly, he walked over to him and tapped the car in his hands lightly. The boy had looked up in shock and he had introduced himself.

Now Soundwave stands silently, watching the other boy with interest as to how he would react.

"Err…Hi. I'm Raf."

The boy lifts up a hand and runs it through his brown hair, obviously trying to calm himself down.

"So you're really him?"

Soundwave nods once, hoping the boy will soon get over his shock. Just as he is thinking of ways to make this less awkward, Raf seems to settle his nerves and gains better control of his voice.

"Its nice to meet you finally. Would you like to sit?"

"You are only asking me to sit becuase you're shorter than me."

Raf laughs, grinning at the older boy.

"Yeah. I guess so. So sit?"

-Raf,Human-

Hack sits down, a small smile flitting across his face. Both look at each other in silence for a second before Raf starts laughing again at the awkwardness of the situation. Hack tilts his head, causing his bangs in the front to swish one way.

"So what do you want to do Raf?"

"Err. I have no idea. What do you want to do?"

"I brought these two DS's and some weird war game. I have never played it before. Want to try it out Raf?"

"Yes!"

Hack reaches up to the bandolier on his chest, pulling from one of the purple pockets two DS's. One is light yellow and the other is dark purple. Grinning widely, Raf gladly accepts the yellow DS, noting the strange face symbol on the back.

"The game is Advanced Wars."

"I've heard of it. Let's play Hack. Im going to beat you."

"No way Raf."

Both start up their games, choosing characters and sides that will take part in the coming battle. They played each other, taking cities and factories. The AI's in the the game never stood a chance as they were demolished quickly. Forty minutes of continuous game play later, Hack wins the game.

-Soundwave, Decepticon-

Soundwave looks at Raf, letting a small smile onto his human face. He watches as the other boy returns his smile. Both had fought viciously against the other. The two players both had cramps throughout their hands, making it painful to continue holding onto the devices. Raf places his down on the bench, shaking the cramps from his hands. The Decepticon symbol on back of his yellow DS glints in the sunlight.

"Want to try again? You'll probably lose though, Raf."

"Bring it on Hack. I'll beat you at this game."

"Uh-huh yeah, sure."

"You doubt me!"

"Yes."

"Now we have to play another round."

Soundwave feels a shred of joy from the friendly argument, readying his device for another round of battle. Raf picks his device, grinning enthusiastically, and their off again. Happily, Soundwave picks apart Rafs strategy, telling him what parts did or did not work. In return Raf listened and advised Soundwave in his battle. Soundwave is glad that his advice does not land on ignorant ears and the ignored. Over the course of their multiple games, both becoming better in their strategy and game play. Rafs mom walks over several hours later, tapping the two boys on the shoulder. Both jump in surprise. Mentally, Soundwave berates himself for losing focus of the outside world.

"Hey. I'm Rafs mother. Nice to meet you."

Soundwave stands and shakes her outstretched hand,

"The names Simon Waver, ma'm. It's nice to meet you. "

She smiles at him, gently letting go of his hand. Raf remains sitting, watching the exchange quietly.

"You should head home Simon. We wouldn't want to worry your parents."

"They don't really care how long I'm out. "

-Raf,Human-

Raf stands up, looking straight into his mother's eyes. Breathing deeply, he forms his question in his head. Without a second more of hesitation, he speaks his request.

"Can Hack, er, Simon stay for tonight? Tomorrow's the start of Spring Break, meaning I don't have school. Please?"

"I dont know about that miel. He may still have school tomorrow. Plus he may not want to stay overnight on such short notice. "

" I'm homeschooled. If it is alright with you, Ma'm, I would rather stay here with Raf then go home."

Raf smiles at his friend, happy that his friend wants to continue hanging out with him. Hack grins back, then looks to Raf's mother for the final say.

"Oh fina. Okay. But call your parents first, sí?"

Hack nods once and walks off, pulling out a cellphone. Raf begins thanking his mother as she smile happily at him. Her sons friend seems nice enough to her. Hack walks back over, smiling slightly.

"It seems that I am able to stay the night."

"Hurray!"

Raf jumps up and down, then he start pulling on Hacks and, Directing him to his moms car. Excitedly, he begins chatting about what they could do at his house. Hack listens quietly while letting himself be dragged, gripping Raf's hand a little tighter.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's note: I apologize to those reading my story for the long wait. Candy456, thank you for commenting about how long it was taking. Not rude, by the way. It helped. The next chapter may take longer. The death mix of being unable to get a hold of my editor (NOT her fault) and trying to sift through an decently large work load, created a almost impossibility of working on this. I'm sorry. But, enough of this sad talk. I got a new chapter for you!**

 **Thanks for the reviews on the last chapter, especially** **AgirlKILLEDu14** **and** **sonicxjones** **for their ideas. I have used one of them in this chapter and all the others will be found in the next chapter….The Magic Chapter! Which reminds me to remind you to please send in ideas if you have them. A super special thanks to my editor who is kind enough to go through the story when she clearly has a busy life and my lovely giver and bouncer of my ideas, Fubeck. The last bit in the chapter can not be complained about. I wrote it as a special gift for Fubeck. Now a quote before you can go and read the story!**

 **Lets have a toast,**

 **because we put bread in our wine.-Fubeck**

When Soundwave enters Raf's room, he is surprised by the smallness and simplicity of it. He looks to the computer that sits quietly on the desk. With this piece of inferior technology Raf had been able to do amazing things. The revelation makes a half smile form on Soundwave's face. Stepping forward slightly, Soundwave senses Raf behind him nervously shifting on his feet. Slowly turning, he directs his half smile at him.

"You have a very nice room."

"Thanks Hack, er, Simon."

"You can call me Hack if I can call you Raf."

Raf nods his head while walking a spot in front of his colored TV. Bouncing on the balls of his feet, he turns back to Soundwave.

"What do you want to do?"

"Got any good games?"

Soundwave walks over to Raf and sits down. He watches with interest and curiosity as the younger boy pulls out two controllers. After setting the game up, Raf hands one controler to Soundwave. The game boots up and they begin to play. It is only a simple racing game, but it requires no small amount of skill to win and not crash. Raf cheers as his car crosses the finish line first, making sure to congratulate his friend on his low number of crashes. They play again, then again, each game seeing a exponential growth in Soundwaves skill. When Soundwave finally wins their fifteenth race, Raf cheers, clapping his hands wildly. This action confuses Soundwave.

"Why are you cheering? You lost."

"Winning or losing doesn't really matter to me. Its all in how you play the game. You played it really well Hack. "

Raf shrugs slightly while smiling. Soundwave nods his head and looks out the small window. Night has fallen, bringing with it a shining moon and a host of stars. Soundwave silently thinks of the Nemesis, ponderingg if anyone really cared that he is less active than usall. Raf also looks out the small window, unknown thoughts swirling through his mind. A loud ringing startles them both.

"What is that noise for?"

"Thats to tell us that food is ready. Now come on, my siblings won't wait for us and then all the food will be gone."

Soundwave watches the gathering of Raf's family members, intrigued. All were really nice to him, forcing him to go first in getting his food since he is the guest. The sheer number of siblings his small friend had is surprising to Soundwave. In most families before the war, Cybertrons only had one to three children at a time in the home. He eats carefully, thanking Raf's parents for the food. Loud conversation and laughter fill the room. Normally he would have left the situation, annoyed by the noise levels. But this situation is very different, bringing with it feelings of comfort and family. Something stirs deep within Soundwave. For first time in centuries, his spark aches to see his parents once again, to hold their servos in his. They were long gone, killed early on in the war even though they were neutrals. Soundwave had never been able to find out who had done it. His holoform's face takes on a frown without his knowledge.

Seeing the confusion on his sparkling friend's face, he draws back his emotions. He switches from a frown to a comforting smile. Internally he questions why he continues to compare Raf to a sparkling. Digging into the chicken potpie on the plate in front of him, Soundwave turns his focus to his friend.

"Is it always like this?"

Raf nods, smiling.

"More or less. It can be overwhelming sometimes"

One of Raf's older brothers looks at Soundwave's partially empty plate. He scoops out more pie, forcing Soundwave to take it. When the Decepticon hacker tries to stop him, the boy looks him over and forces even more onto his plate.

"You, senor, are way too skinny."

Soundwave figures it's not worth fighting over and continues eating the food. The meal is not energon, but it is undeniably good.

-Raf, human-

Raf mentally sighs in relief as he sees his friend adjusting to the environment. At first Raf had been worried by his friend's unreadable emotions, but the other boy seemed to be enjoying himself. Hack had been eating the potpie rather quickly and happily, until his brother had practically force fed his new friend and insultingly called him skinny. Luckily Hack had taken it well and no fight had broken out. Another mental sigh of relief curls through his mind.

After eating, Hack is the first one to offer to clean up. It seems he really wants to make a good impression on Raf's family. Raf can tell it's working from the large smile on his mothers face. When they finish cleaning up, Raf pulls Hack back to his room. The two boys sit down on furniture; Hack sits on the bed and Raf sits in his swivel chair. Both boys sit there at a loss on what to do. Neither have any ideas. Raf's eyes roam his room, lighting on the small stack of board games on the bottom shelf of his book case. The Clue game seems to call him, begging to be the chosen one of the medium sized pile. He goes over to the shelf and pulls the game away from the others. Quietly he sets it up on the floor, not responding to his friends questioning gaze. Hack moves to sit opposite of him on the floor, curiously staring at the board game laying on the floor before him.

"Have you ever played Clue?"

Hack shakes his head once, looking up to stare Raf in the face. Raf quickly explains the rules and the different characters. He chooses Kernel Mustard, while Hack decides to be Professor Plum. The game begins, but is soon stalled by Hack.

"This is illogical."

"What?"

Raf looks at his friend confused.

"Would we not already know the room in which Mr. Boddy was murdered? And if I'm the murderer, shouldn't I know and be trying to make it seem that another person is responsible?"

"Well, this is a game,Hack. It doesn't have to make sense. Though I've never thought about it in a realistic way."

Hack stares at the board, a fierce frown tugging harshly at the corners of his mouth. Raf thinks hard, trying to figure out a probable situation for the game. If he could come up with a half way decent solution, perhaps his friend would be appeased and would want to continue playing.

"I got it!"

Raf smiles happily as a almost perfect solution pops into his head. Hack looks up from the board, curiosity splashing across his face.

"So the body was found in the pool, but with obvious signs that it had been dragged there. That's why all the clues come from there and why we have no idea what room they were actually killed in. The reason the murder doesn't remember killing is because we all have amnesia due to a drug in the food. Our host knew one of us would kill him and wanted to play a game with our minds. Is that a good enough explanation?"

"Yes. It will work."

"Good. Let's keep playing."

The game continues, both players snatching up clues and making mental notes. Hack guesses first and Raf has no clues that go against his theory. When he looks at the real answer, he finds that he is wrong. This leaves Raf still in the game and he guesses correctly on his next turn.

They play over and over, each time ending with Hack becoming increasingly frustrated. Sensing his friend's bad mood, Raf suggests that they get ready for bed. The clock beside his bed declares the time to be 10:03 in bright, bold, red numbering. Quickly, Raf grabs two sleeping bags while Hack cleans up Clue. Raf changes in the bathroom, leaving Hack to change in the bedroom. Mrs. Esquivel provides some sleep wear for Hack, kindly reminding him not to keep her boy up too late.

Instead of getting into their sleeping bags, the boys sit on top of them. After a few moments of chatting, the two agree to watch a little bit of a TV then go to sleep. Turning it on, Raf turns down the volume and asks what channel Hack would prefer to watch. He shrugs, leaning against the bed frame behind him. Raf starts flipping through the channels. Stalling on a show he recognizes, Raf sits back and grins. The My little pony theme song plays as the episode begins. Raf smiles happily when his friend doesn't comment on his choice. In fact he seems rather enthralled by the show. The marathon streams, interrupted only by commercials. During these breaks the two boys discuss the episodes and the characters. Raf had seen most of them before, but he still has fun discussing them with someone else. Hours later, he quietly slips under the spell of sleep, becoming dead to the world.

-Soundwave, Decepticon-

Soundwave looks to his side where the human sparkling had fallen asleep. Quietly, he notices that his small friend is shivering. Lifting his arm slowly, he pulls a up a blanket to cover Raf. Pooling the sleeping bag around his young friend, Soundwave happily observes that the shivers were dying away. He settles back even further, leaning heavily on the bed he continues watching the interesting show. At about 1:00 am, Raf's mother looks in on them. Soundwave fakes sleep, knowing that it would seem bad if he was seen awake. She smiles happily, gently closing the door with barely a creak. Raf yawns, shifting at the noise, then finally settles down. Soundwave reopens his holoforms eyes and gives the smallest smile.


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's note: Sorry for the long wait and the long wait that may follow this chapter. I**

 **spare you my excuses so you may get onto more exciting things. Well exciting for me any**

 **way. This is my Magic chapter… Kinda like a training montage in a movie, a calm before**

 **the real plot. Actually it's only half of it. I really wanted to post this month. I'm following**

 **the Hobbit way and gifting you guys this for my birthday. So yeah here you go, happy**

 **birthday to me!**

 **A rising cheer to my editor and to Fubeck my idea bouncer. Thank you! A super special**

 **thanks to a random friend of mine and** **sonicx jones** **for the 6th story. I'm really sorry if**

 **you gave me an idea and it's not here. It is in the other half I'm working on typing. If**

 **anyone else has a tiny plot they want in, I'll try my hardest to write something for you.**

 **An extra super special thanks to all those who liked Soundwaves mlp watching. Fubeck**

 **was pleased. Another extra super special thanks to Candy456 For say that you will wait**

 **for the story. I cried. With happiness. Lots of happiness.**

 **One last thing if you're bothering with this. My editor and I were watching a**

 **Transformers movie the other day when people started talking about the Decepticons**

 **on screen. She asked why they were talking about them so negatively, noting that my**

 **Soundwave seemed really nice. Mentally, I cackled while I outwardly was calm and trying**

 **to explain it…So onto the story now!**

 _pony argument_

During the weeks after their first sleepover, the two hackers continue to meet in the park every couple of days after school. Raf enjoys his new friends company immensely. They discuss many things and battle each other on their specialized DS's. Most of the time Soundwave wins, but occasionally Raf nabs one or two.

Within their conversations an occasional argument would pop up. Typically their arguments are mostly fact based and involve a small amount of emotional attachment. The only argument they have had that involved a large amount of emotional attachment was the argument about My Little Pony. After watching part of the marathon at Raf's house, Soundwave had become obsessed with downloading all the information about the show. The two hackers agree that the show is awesome, but have differing opinions about who the best character is.

"Background ponies are the best."

"You're mistaken Raf . How can they be when they have only had one episode in which they have played a major role? I prefer Rainbowdash to all the other ponies."

"And why is that. Hack?"

"She stands for loyalty. It is a trait that I respect and hope to hold myself."

"Your reasons are sound, but I stick with Doctor Whooves. He's much cooler"

"Not really. His only lines are uninteresting and he can't seem to choose to be a pegisi or an earth pony."

"Rainbowdash loses her cutie mark and her wings constantly!"

"The background ponies barely ever have their cutie marks in the big crowds."

At this point the two realize they were yelling at each other and other park goers were beginning to stare. Raf ducks his head in embarrassment, his cheeks quickly changing to a brilliant crimson. Soundwave observes his friends behavior with slight concern. The feeling fades from Raf as his cheeks return to their normal coloring.

"I'm sorry Hack."

"It's okay. I am at fault just as much as you are."

"Friends?"

Raf looks hopefully at his companion. Soundwave smiles at the sparkling sitting on the bench beside him.

"Friends."

 _an apron_

Raf waits excitedly in the park, bouncing up and down on their normal meeting bench. He spots his friend wearing his normal shades and outfit. As soon as his friend reaches they both start walking in the direction of Raf's house. Raf lightly bounces as he walks, excited for a reason he had yet to reveal to Hack. When they reach their destination, Hack drops his overnight bag in Raf's room. Raf is smiling widely, gesturing his older friend into the the kitchen. When Hack enters he is mildly surprised to see the baking ingredients laid out on the counter. Raf stands there quietly, grinning as he passes an apron to Hack. Raf's mother smiles, leaving the room after she bestows the recipe for chocolate chip cookies upon them.

Upon her leaving the room, utter chaos erupts. Both try to follow the instructions, but the inevitable messes start springing up all over. Hack tries to open a bag of flour. It promptly explodes, counting both boys in a thick layer of white. Shock freezes the two hackers in their places, giving them the appearance of strange marble statues. Raf begins laughing, sneezing with each intake of breath. Hack snorts, then begins laughing along with his friend. After calming down, they quickly begin cleaning up, breaking out into fits of laughter every few seconds.

 _dinidi ding_

"So you built this DS..."

"Yes. What's up Raf? I thought we already established this."

The two boys are in the park, sitting on the now familiar bench. Neither pay any attention to the people walking by.

"Yeah I know. I was just checking Hack. I was hoping you could help me upgrade my phone without damaging it."

"Hmm. Perhaps I can. May I see the phone?"

Raf slips the phone from his pocket and hands it over to his friend. Hack closely examines the device, flipping it over in his hand. A thoughtful frown curls on his face and he pushes his sunglasses further up his holoform's face. Gently he pries the phones back open, displaying its innards. Hack spots Raf staring intently at what he is doing. He provides the younger boy a better view, moving closer to the sparkling and tilting the phone. Slowly he pulls the processing and memory chip out of the machine. Afterwards, he draws a small screwdriver from one of the pockets of his bandolier.

"If we can compact the basic functions, maybe remove Internet access, then I am sure we can make this device have a longer charge and a stronger and farther call distance. "

Raf nods, thinking. He quietly holds out his hand and Hack passes him the chip and the screwdriver. Carefully, he locates the Internet and charging sections of the chip. Using the screwdriver, Raf removes the two pieces, checking that he does not damage any of the other components. Hack pulls some chip modification tools and pieces from his bandolier. Raf hands him the Internet part of his phone, knowing full well that he never had or never would use that part of the phone. Hack begins modifying the piece, explaining everything he did to his eager friend. It is nice to have someone else appreciate the inner workings of something for a change. Soon instead of connecting to the Internet, the phone could call most anywhere in the universe. Even if there were thick walls or the user was underground. Hack had cheated a little with his highly advanced knowledge and advanced chip pieces. He explains all this to Raf.

"Like the Doctor's phone!"

Raf grins as Hack stares at him. Then, without asking about the reference, Hack begins modifying the charging port. After completing the task, he reassembles the phone and hands it back to its owner. Raf grins, eyes wide in excitement. Bouncing up and down, the younger boy expresses his thanks to Hack. The older boy accepts the thanks.

" We should exchange phone numbers. I can be phoned from anywhere now!"

They exchange numbers and then, realizing the time, they part ways.

 _in circles_

While waiting for his friend at the park, Raf doodles in his notebook. Carefully, he sketches circles, designing their insides with a trained hand. Soundwave walks over quietly, completely unnoticed by the young boy. He peeks over Raf's shoulder and is shocked by what he sees. Some of the designs look vaguely like cybertronian symbols.

"What is that?"

Raf jumps, clearly startled by his friend. He turns and smiles at him.

"Gallifreyan. It's the alien language of the Timelords."

"Timelords?"

Soundwave tilts his head, confused.

In none of his many years had he ever encounters a species named that. Much less one by that name who had spread their language to earth. A smaller file from his earlier searches of the planets TV satellite connections pops up. He opens it in his processor, reviewing the information about shows that reference Timelords. This whole process takes less than three seconds.

"Is that from Doctor Who?"

The grin that spreads across his friends face makes the effort of looking through his processor for such a small scrap of info worth it.

"Do you watch it?"

Soundwave lifts up one of his hands and tilts it side to side then shrugs. He had recently learned that this gesture meant kinda, but not really.

"I have seen enough to remember the word Timelord."

"Next sleep over we are definitely watching some of the episodes. The main character is really clever most of the time. It will also explain the name of the background pony, Doctor Whooves."

Raf smile widens, excitement racing through him at the prospect of sharing something else he loved with his friend. It helped that Soundwave is grinning right back at him.

Soundwave loves butter covered popcorn. The smell is glorious along with the salty taste. It is like the seasoned Energon he used to enjoy before the war. Raf pushes the book the half empty bowl closer to his friend too into their show to bother eating the , Soundwave munches on another handful. With a big smile on his face, He smiles contently. It was amazing some of the stuff that humans came up with. But butter popcorn was definitely their best invention.

Raf stares wide-eyed at the TV screen horror filling his face. Shaking fiercely, he silently acknowledges that this movie choice has been completely and utterly horrible idea. He's unsure as to why this movie was even in the families movie collection cabinet. The main villain of the film is a demon that lept out at people and ripped them apart off screen. Blood normally would be shown pooling around on the shudders violently as the music begins to pick up. The sounds that only build, signifying another attack and some dark place. Letting out a high, sharp sound (no, not a squeak why would you say that?), he throws a blanket over his head. He already has seen too much. But even with his eyes covered, the dreadful sounds of the horror film soaring outwards from the TV. Tears drip down his face, liquid fear that makes very little sound. Breathing deeply, Raf desperately tries to calm himself.

-Soundwave, Decepticon-

Soundwave blinks his holoform's eyes rapidly, returning his focus to Raf's room. The movie is still playing, just as it was before he had zoned out to focus more on his work on the Nemesis. He always is working on other things as he hangs out with Raf, after all he does have a job to do, but typically he pays the minimal amount of attention to the work and maximum amount of attention to his friend. Normally, when they watched a movie, Soundwave would download the film and then focus on his work.

The sound of whimpering is what had drawn him back to the room. Quickly glancing around, Soundwave notices that Raf has hidden himself underneath a blanket. Another loud whimper pierces the air, accompanying the surge of dramatic music for the movie. Suddenly Soundwave understands what is happening. Silently, he moves over to Raf's computer and finds a particular song on YouTube. Pressing the mute button for the movie, he simultaneously presses the play button for the song.

-Raf, human-

Raf pulls the covers of his head as a very different genre of music begins to play. Peaking at the tv, he sees that the horror film still playing. But instead of darker, dramatic music, Puff the Magic Dragon is twirling through the air. With a large smile he turns to look at his friend, who waves at him. As the final notes accompany a ordinarily very scary scene, the two hackers began to laugh. The rest of the evening was spent watching the horror movie with increasingly strange and upbeat songs.


	8. Chapter 8

**Authors note: Here is my Christmas present to you! Merry Christmas! God bless you and your life! Sorry for the wait. Life happened. This is part to of the montgy chapter and it is the final bit. NExt chapter will involve the show, and the next few, when published, may be a little less filled of awesomeness then the previous ones. Is this what finding a plot looks and feels like? Yep, guess so. Also, Doctor Who is an epic show about an alien who runs through time called the Doctor. Doctor who? Well, he has no other name he willingly gives. Its really cool, great for nerds and geeks alike.**

 **A special thanks to** **AgirlKILLEDu14** **for the idea. Thank you everyone who reviewed. Every time I saw a new one my day brightened significantly. Thank you to Fubeck for being a sounding board. Thank you to my editor who does this even though she's really busy.** **Candy456** **,I wanted to let you know I died and returned when I saw that you were from England. One of my top favorite places ever. Now some parting words. Catch the references if you can.**

 **In a land of cyberspace and a time of internet connection**

 **The fate of Washington DC lay in the hands of on being**

 **And the code that made him was**

 **[=g3,8d/ &fbb=-q]/hk%fg**

 _Whistling a tune_

The radio sings out a sweet melody, surrounding the two gamers as they continue playing. The song changes and Raf's eyes light up. He begins to tap his right foot on the floor in time to the beat. Without truly thinking about it, he begins to whistle along to the tune. Soundwave looks over and stares questioningly at his friend. Raf feels the stare and looks at his friend, his face slowly forming a blush.

"What are you doing Raf?"

"Whistling without thinking. Sorry..."

Soundwave feels bad for embarrassing his friend and allows curiosity to bubble up.

"No it's fine. You can continue. In fact, I would like to know how you are doing that."

"Here, I'll teach you."

Raf grins widely, explaining how to shape the mouth in order to whistle. He encourages Soundwave after every failure, explaining the skill whenever asked to do it over again. When Soundwave finally produces the desired sound, they both cheer loudly.

"This calls for popcorn!"

Raf had caught on that his friend greatly enjoyed that particular treat. His friend grins and high fives with him.(Soundwave had found out how to do this earlier off of the Internet. )

Later, when he is back on duty on the Nemesis, Soundwave notices other Decepticons staring at him. Starscream approaches him, squirming slightly as if afraid.

"Soundwave."

The mech turns to the acting leader of the Decepticons.

"Stop that infernal noise; you're frightening the troops.

With a sudden jolt through his systems, Soundwave realizes that he had been whistling the song that Raf had enjoyed. He stops and turns back to his terminal, silent once more. Every cybertronian in the command room collectively lets out a relieved sigh. The silent mech smiles under his mask, thinking rather happily about how much fear he could inspire with such a small sound.

 _Let's get technical(Because I haven't got a better title)_

Soundwave stares at the website, unhappy with its security. The private chat rooms were easily hacked into so any conversations held here were not truly safe. Gently, he taps his metal fingers against the terminal, thinking about how to solve this problem. Though the topics of the conversations he had with his human friend were typically safe, some of them could get his friend into major trouble with the human government. Such as the topic of hacking into that governments facilities. Soundwave breaks from his pondering when he sees Raf enter the chat room . Deciding to get straight to the point with his friend, he types in a message.

-Hi Raf. This website is not secure enough.-

Raf, in the weeks he has known his friend, had become accustomed to his somewhat confusing and pointed conversation starters in their online conversations.

-Hi Hack. I guess not. Are you wanting to do something about it?-

-Yes. We can either lock down the chat room whenever both of us are in it or we can establish a virtual network between our two computers.-

-I like the second option. I'll have to check with my mom if you can come over after school, if that's a good time for you?-

-It is.-

Seconds dash by bringing a positive response from Raf's conversation online continue for a while until both boys log off. The afternoon of the next day comes quickly for both of them. A buzz of excitement pulses in the air as the two boys work on Rafs computer and laptop. Setting up the network to their collective computers is fairly simple for them and takes no time at all. The amount of encryption the two decided to put into the networks conversation is what is taking them a while to complete .

"Are you sure we shouldn't stop at twenty levels of encryption? It feels slightly extreme Hack, with the number of nods we are setting up. "

"I suppose so Raf, but two or three more would not hurt."

"I guess not. We are going to need to set up more base protective walls around each one though."

"Why don't you start working on the security of our nodes while I finish creating the encrypting mechanism and keys for it?"

"Okay. Your idea of using onion nodes is pretty cool and smart."

"Thanks. I try."

Both set about working again, each happily tapping away on computers. Hours later Raf's mother peeks in, gladdened by the sight of the two boys discussing protective coding. Soon enough the network is set up with encrypting and decrypting nodes.

"I'll take what we have done here and apply it to my computer when you get home."

"Send me a message when your done Hack."

"Okay. I got to get going now."

As promised Soundwave sends a message to Raf when he sets up his end of the network. And so begins the super safe chatting between the two.

 _Bullies (Slight violence. Warning you now.)_

Soundwave whistles as he slowly walks up to Raf's human friend had not appeared at their typical meeting spot, so after trying to call him and failing, Soundwave had decided to pick him up from his school. They were having a sleepover at Raf's house. Normally his younger friend would have called him to let him know that he was going to be late due to a teacher. Worry for the small sparkling twirls in his chest as he pushes open one of the entrance doors. Quietly, he stares down the empty and silence atrium. Sunlight reflects across the cool tile floor as it enters from the windows that make up the roof. A gasp of pain from nearby catches his attention. The noise originates from the side hallway. Silently, Soundwave walks towards where the noise is coming from, glancing quickly into the third room on the hall. This single glance gives him all the information he needs to know.

Hastily Soundwave shoves the door open, charges in, and shoves the boy who had been standing above Raf. From the small boys position, Soundwave knew that he had been getting kicked in the side. Angrily he knees the other boy, shoving him harshly into the wall with a solid thwack. Then he walks over to where Raf is lying.

"What happened Raf?"

He gently pulls his human friend to his feet. Raf groans in pain.

"Forgot to pay him."

"Forgot to pay him? Raf…"

Soundwave growls out his words. He hears the other boy in the room starting to shift on the floor. HAlf of his attention focuses on tracking his movements without looking at him. The other half is wholly dedicated to looking Raf over for serious injury.

"Where did he hurt you?"

"My rib cage."

Tears slip out of Rafs eyes as he mumbles his words. HIs arms slowly wrap around his chest in a vain attempt to lessen the pain. Soundwave lifts him from the floor and carries him from the classroom, noting how light his friend is.

"Where's the nurse's office?"

"She's not here."

"Where is it Raf?"

"To the left, three doors down."

Soundwave follows the instructions, quietly opening the door. Searching the room, he finds the ice packs. These he takes them to Raf and puts them into the other hackers arms. Raf puts them against his chest, where they help nullify the pain. Checking the boy over again, Soundwave can feel rage pounding against his chest. Harshly he pushes it down the urge to bring his Cybertronian form to the school and rip the human that did this apart.

"Does that feel better?"

"Yes. I feel fine know. Thanks."

Soundwave knows this to be not true, but accepts that it means his friend is slightly better.

"What is his name?"

"Vince…"

"Stay here. I'll be back."

Raf nods. Having taken care of the injured party, Soundwave moves onto what his spark desperately screams for. Revenge. Briskly, he makes his way back to the classroom where Vince is just standing up. Fists curling tightly, Soundwave walks forward, stopping two feet from where Vince is now standing. Vince snarls angrily.

"Whaddya want?"  
"An explanation."

"For what. I haven't done anything wrong."

"Wrong explanation."

A slow and creepy smile slips across Soundwaves face. He then hurtles forward punching Vince in the face, splitting the bullies lip and breaking his nose. The other boy tries to fight back, but ultimately falls to Soundwaves centuries of experience. The encounter ends with Vince on the floor again, except this time he's beaten and bloody. Snarling viciously, Soundwave says his first words since the fight began.

"Hurt Raf ever again and you will learn what real pain is like. Warn anyone else who intends to hurt Raf of this."

Soundwave leans down and lift the bullies head, staring directly into his eyes. Soundwave removes his sunglasses, revealing his purple cybertronian eyes that lie beneath.

"Raf is under my protection."

Soundwave drops the boys head, stands and leaves the room without looking back. His anger sizzles away, making room for worry. Upon reaching the nurse's office, he checks on how Raf is doing. Raf insists on walking on his own, but two steps latter the pain from his chest over whelms him. Yelping in surprise, Raf struggles weakly as Soundwave lifts him and shifts him onto his back. Grumbling quietly, Raf stops struggling and holds on tighter to Soundwave. Soundwave smiles lightly as he walks to Raf's house.


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note: Hello people. Here is the next chapter. Sadly none of you figured out the references in the last Author's note… :( Sighs. That's cool. Anywho, I wanted to thank all those who wait so patiently for each new chapter. Ohh I have something for Soundwave lovers to check out. There is a playlist on youtube call Soundwave Transformers Prime. This chapter is the one you have been waiting for. I think… I personally dislike it for its unoriginality, but it was necessary for the story. Currently I am handwriting chapter 13 and like it better even though it's a struggle to come up with. Okay ranting over.**

 **Thank you everyone who has reviewed. Honestly, I have no idea what I would do in my dark days without the comments making me smile. Super special thanks to my editor. She is more amazing than Dexter Douglas. Just saying. Fubeck, I personally thank you for all the idea bouncing I have forced upon you. And as a part of that thanks I'm going to advertise you. Check out Crazy Mental on Queeky. Her Soundwave pony is coooool! Okay here is the next test of reference catching.**

 **Through lightest dark or darkest light**

 **Don't need no bling to join the fight**

 **Figure out the rest and tell me what it is. Warning of violence.**

A few weeks later, after several after school meet ups and sleepovers, found Raf hanging out down by the flood drains. Hack had informed him that he was going to be unavailable today. Raf drives his remote controlled car in a circle, enthusiastically making racing noises with his mouth. He is out much later than normal due to the absence of his friend. His dark blue flip phone rings, interrupting his happy moment. Raf pick it up, finding that it is his mother. With an edge of hope in his voice he asks for another five minutes at his favorite racing site. His mother knew Hack would not be coming to day, so she kindly grants him his wish. Raf starts driving again, engine noise spilling from his mouth. A loud sound from above startles him from his game. Looking upwards he sees a blue motorcycle ridden by a teenager. The teenager looked to be completely lacking in the control department. Wincing when the boy impacts, Raf watches with growing interest,

"Whoah."

Smiling broadly, Raf feels amazement filling his chest. The guy had actually landed the crazy high jump without being injured or dying. He runs over as the other boy gets of his vehicle, eager to ask him how he had accomplished such a feat. Raf notices the boy looking upwards and hears the sound of two cars rumbling nearer. He turns to watch, wondering if they planned on jumping as well. Raf feels a bubble of happiness, glad to have something exciting to tell his friend about. Without looking, Raf hears the other boy beginning to back up.

Ideas swirl through Raf's head as the two purple cars drive closer. Where that after the motorist? Why? Is it because they are gangsters? Raf had always wanted to see real life gangsters, though preferably at a safer distance. Shock burns through his system, ripping apart his ideas like a fire breaking down a house, as the two cars transform into giant robots. Those were definitely not gangsters, not human ones at least. Fear nips away at the shock when he sees the guns the purple robots have attached to their arms. The sound of the motorcycle shifting is more than enough encouragement for him to move to the sidelines.

"This ends here Cons!"

A female voice rings out from where the motorcycle had been. Upon reaching the wall, Raf turns around to see a blue feminine robot with pink accents running towards the other two robots as they shot lasers at her. Their aim was about as good as the typical Stormtrooper with how much they missed their target.

'Seriously. Giant robots should have some sort of targeting system built in at the very least. Perhaps Stormtroopers actually have better aim than them.'

Out loud Raf questions the teenage boy who had arrived on the transforming motorcycle.

"What are they?"

His reply is very uninformed, giving Raf the impression that he had just been thrust into the situation.

"Talking cars that turn into robots, or the other way around."

Raf felt the urge to snort and laugh at the same time. That much information he could have gathered on his own.

The female robot beats down on the two purples, fiercely attacking them with flying punches. She kept saying one word for every direct hit.

"This..is...for...Cliff!"

The two purples seem to recover from the onslaught as the the blue one backflips away. They start shooting again and actually manage to hit her.

'Lucky shot or are they getting better at aiming?'

Raf thinks quietly as he winces at how much the blast must have hurt. He watches as the motorcycle slides along the ground, the irritating sound of metal grinding filling the air. The sound of yet another car coming pulls Raf's attention upwards. A yellow car that transforms into yet another robot sails through the air, landing directly on one purple and punching the other. After taking them both down, the robot takes a step backwards, crushing Raf's long forgotten remote control car.

Internally he winces, thinking of how long it would take him and Hack to fix it, or perhaps build a new one. The giant yellow robot seems horrified as he realises what he has done.

"I'm so sorry kid!"

The robot turns to him, remorse shining in his,er, eyes?..Raf decides to accept the apology. After all, it was an accident and now he and Hack would have something to work together on.

"No problem. Really."

In the yellow robot's moment of distraction the other robots took the opportunity to shoot him. The blast sent the mechanical being flying through the air. When he crash lands the two purple were already there. Yellow rolls over only to be faced with two blasters pointing straight at him. Suddenly struck with the horrible feeling of guilt, mixed with a dash of courage , Raf can hardly believe the the next few words the dance from his lips. They tango through the air, surprising him and the two purples.

"Leave him alone!"

Raf feels the realization of his stupidity crash over him as the two blasters are primed and painted in his direction. Whispering the last word of sentence , he internally curls into himself.

" _Please_?"  
"Bad call."

The other boys statement only achieves in making Raf feel more idiotic.

'Aw man. This is not going to end well. Bye bye world. Sorry Hack, I never got a final goodbye.'

One of the purples begins to take loud, clanking steps. The two boys begin running. Quikly, Raf leads the older boy to an empty emergency drainage pipe. The giant purple robot follows them, only to be beaten away by the yellow robot Raf had helped.

"Hey, you alright in there? I think he is beaten now."

"Thank you."

Raf grins as the robot's eyes seem to zero in on him.

"I'm still sorry about your car. Stay in there where you'll be safe. Bye!"

The giant yellow robot stands up, moving away from their position. Both boys begin moving down the tunnel away from the huge fighting robots. The boys ran along the tunnel till it split, which encouraged them to stop for a breather. Neither could hear the clashing of metal from the giant robots. Raf draws a flashlight from his bag that he had with him.

"Which way?"

The older boy desperately looks between the two routes.

"Right leads to a dead end, left pops out near the park. My name's Raf by the way."

"Jack. How do you know the way?"

"I travel this tunnel every couple of days. That's why I have this flash light. So, huge robots. Cool right?"

"Not really. Did you see them fighting? They could kill us and never notice!"

"But they didn't, and I'm fairly sure the yellow one would notice. I probably shouldn't mention this to my friend. Its likely to be a national secret or something."

"People would say we were crazy if we did tell anyone."

The two boys reach the end of the tunnel, both happy to be alive, but feeling completely different about the encounter.

"See you at school Jack."

"I go to highschool."

"So do I."

Raf looks up at the other boy, grinning at his confusion. It is strange for him to feel so calm after meeting giant robots.

"But you're, like, twelve."

"Age doesn't define a person's limits. See you, Jack."

Raf runs off, hurrying home. Although he wasn't going to tell Hack about the battling robots , he is totally going to tell him about the other kids jump. Plus he needed to figure out an excuse for asking Hack to help him build a new remote car. Maybe claiming he had crashed it into a wall while jumping would would cut it. Thinking of that, he needed to test the jump some time.


	10. Chapter 10

**Authors Note: Yellow! Hows it goin? I want to say thank you to all that have read and reviewed this story. Also thank you for all the favorites and follows, I have never gotten so much mail! It feels nice to get a bing of incoming message on a bad day. I'm sorry that you have to wait so long between updates.**

 **A special thanks to my editor who has to deal with people that are crazier than Howling Mad Murdock, and still manages to be as sane as Hannibal Smith. Which, now that I think about it, tends to be a little less than sane… Hmmm. Thank you Crazy Mental for the idea bouncing. Without you this would be dead. Like realllllllyyyy dead. Pushing up daisies. Singing with angels. In a trunk in a truck, kinda dead! So thanks.**

 **Thank you** **Andromeda Alpha** **for getting the MErlin half of that reference in chapter Eight!**

 **BTW this is shorter than others. Did not notice till later… Sorry. PS BTW The truth is out there. And so am I for that matter. Stay whelmed and run!**

Soundwave feels the urge to slam his helm into the wall repeatedly. Did that voice have to mention Jasper, Nevada? Did it? Knowing that failure to to show this to Starscream would end badly, he reluctantly walks to the other mech. What he really felt like doing would probably end in imprisonment or offlining. Sighing silently, to himself, he plays the recording to Starscream, praying to Primus that Raf would not be involved. Starscream sends out two vehicons, ordering them to find and destroy the Autobot. Soundwave walks away, his bit of work here done. Now he had to go and organize the reports and other documents that were in relation to the Cliffjumper and explosion of the mine incident. When Soundwave had first heard of Starscream killing a captured Autobot, he had wanted to violently tear the wings of the seeker , and then chuck him the edge of the ship. Seriously! That both probably had information on where their base on Earth was. Even if the bot refused to talk they still had ways of retrieving the info.

Soundwave works diligently, hoping to finish this massive amount of work soon. Silently, he cursed the need for such organization on the ship. If he knew he could trust them to get it right, he would have gladly tossed the work to a couple of vehicons. Seeing as he did not however, Soundwave proceeded to do all the work himself. Lazerbeak scolds him for his distrust in the troops below him. He silently reminds her of of the time he had allowed vehicons to be in charge of organizing of files. She backs off remembering the epic mess that had been made, one that crippled the cpu of all who looked at it except for Soundwave. Lazerbeak had no idea how the vehicons had managed it. No idea.

Half an hour hour later Soundwave notices another transmission that is of interest. IT's from one of the Decepticons Starscream had sent out. After listening closely, Soundwave feels fear pool in his processor. A human had gotten involved. If somehow Raf has gotten mixed up with the Autobots, he would never sleep peacefully again. Raf could be killed very easily by the bots or the cons. Not even purposefully! Soundwave stalls his instinct to start pacing back and forth like some cat trying to figure out how to catch a light that is high on the wall.

'This is illogical. '

It could be any human in Jasper. Raf could very well be safe from all this conflict. Again, he beats the urge to pace. Oh how he wished that he could have met up with Raf instead of doing this dreaded organizing work. Soundwave throws himself into the task, shutting down all thoughts of Raf. HE keeps an eye on their personal network for any messages. He hoped his friend would come onto the network soon. Less than ten minutes later he spots a message that informs him that the two Decepticons had been offlined. A small flick of his servo and a press of a button, he discovers that it is the two vehicons that had been sent out to Jasper. Not really surprising, seeing that so many of their ranks had fallen to so few Autobots. With a slightly happy sigh he sends the info to Starscream, knowing that the seeker could probably care less. Sad really, none of the leaders of the Decepticon army seem to care for the survival rate of the troops. It's a wonder they still had so many left. Megatron had been slightly better about it, but still… Soundwave stands silent for a moment in remembrance of the two lost lives. Though happy no Decepticons had hurt Raf, a slight sting still washes over him at the waste of lives. An alert pops up, informing him that Raf is on their network. Eagerly, Soundwave gets on.

-Hey Hack!-

-Hello Raf.-

-I just saw the coolest thing! This boy from my school did this epic jump with a motorcycle. He was really high up in the air, almost ten feet, and landed without a hitch. It inspired me to try jumping my car on a smaller scale.-

-And?-

-I completely destroyed the thing.-

Soundwave slowly shaves his helm, wondering why his friend be so driven to do that with his remote controlled car.

-Can we build another one together, Hack? It would probably be so much better than the one I just broke.-

-Did you break it on purpose Raf?-

-No! I thought the jump would end more astrously. I have the parts for the new car already, the pieces I was saving to repair the messed up one. Do you really think I would wreck one of my favorite things just to build a new one with you?-

-Maybe.-

-That's mean.-

-It makes logical sense.-

A pause comes in their communication as Soundwave waits for Raf to respond.

-I might not be available tomorrow.-

-Why not?-

-I got this weird feeling. I dunno.-

-A feeling?-

-Yes. It's a not so logical thing that can happen. Are you cool with just meeting up online until this weekend?-

-I don't know if I can manage that.-

-Thanks.-

-Sarcasm?-

-Perhaps.-

-'sigh' I gotta go now Raf. Talk to you tomorrow.-

-Definitely. Bye Hack.-

Soundwave exits the network and begins looking into a transmission he is just starting to receive. It is from far out in deep space, making the message and the sender unclear. Perhaps it is Megatron calling for a space bridge to the ship, or perhaps a message sent to the Autobots. Mentally, he debates the pros and cons of both situations. While decoding and enhancing his scanners. Starscream would never open the bridge without ample evidence for it.


	11. Chapter 11

HI! Here is the next chapter. And summer. Summer is also good!

A special thank you to my editor and to Fubeck my idea bouncer. Thank you all for the favs, follows, and reviews!

Tootals!

* * *

The school day had been normal enough, only interrupted by odd stares from Jack. Several times it seems to Raf that the older boy is going to approach him, but then changes his mind. Not that Raf felt like talking to the older boy who seems to be in denial of how cool it is that giant robots were running around in disguise. Raf silently shifts in his chair, eagerly awaiting the final bell. Anticipation builds in his stomach. Raf suspects it is the knowledge that a secret group of robots would probably try to get in contact with those who were not supposed to know about them. Quietly, Raf hopes they will not kill him or send him off somewhere to keep him quiet. At last the final bell screams out, issuing the command that raises hundreds of students from their chairs. Noise explodes in the hallway as most of the student body tries to leave simultaneously.

Raf straggles behind, not eager to join the rushing rapids that the halls had become. Silently, he waits for the steady flow to turn into a slow trickle. Raf then exits the building, sticking to back of the crowd. Raf walks over to a tree, standing quietly beneath it. He turns back to the school in time to see Jack exiting the building. Internally,Raf realizes that, yes, he does want to talk to someone else about the giant talking robots, if only to reaffirm their realness. Slowly, Jack walks over to Raf, giving a small, nervous wave.

"Raf. Hey.."

The older boy fidgets and rubs the back of his neck.

"Look. Let's just keep this between us and forget anything ever happened, okay?"

A double beep captures both boys attention. Raf tugs on Jack's sleeve calling his name softly. The yellow Camaro from yesterday drives up to the curb that is near the tree, making JAck groan lightly in horror.

"Oh no. Not again!"

The car slowly opens it's door, beeping as the two boys stared at the interior.

"Please get in brown haired kid."

"It wants us to get in."

"No, just me."

Raf replies shaking his head slightly.

"How do you know that?"

Raf looks at with a bit of surprise. The yellow car was being perfectly clear. Unless there was some sort of difference in what they were hearing?But why?

"It said so."

"What!"

Jack yells out, surprised. Raf patiently points to the blue motorcycle.

"Yours is over there."

Looking over at the vehicle, Jack starts talking. Raf ignores him in favor of walking over to the car.

"Hey! How's it going?"

Raf steps in, sitting down in the black seat. After he is secure, the Camaro drives off. He carefully places his bag onto the floor in between his feet. Silently he glances around the vehicle, the awkwardness becoming heavy in the air. All at once he wishes that Hack was here, just as someone comforting and familiar. Quite suddenly the car starts beeping, rushing with its words.

"Hi I'm Bumblebee, though you probably can't understand this. I am so so sorry about the toy car. I totally wrecked it."

"It's fine. A friend of mine and I are planning on rebuilding it. My name's Raf."

The car jerks to a stop. Raf gasps in pain as he slams against the taut seat belt. Coughing harshly, Raf tries to regain his breath, only increasing the pain in his chest. Slowly he leans back, gently rubbing the area that hurt as his coughing died. He glances around the interior and exterior of the Camaro to try and figure out a possible reason for their sudden halt. A glance a the driver's wheel stops his search in its tracks. The symbol there is far too similar to the one on the DS Hack gave him. Thousand of questions buzz through his head.

The car seems to be sputtering with its beep, surprise leaking through heavily.

"You understand me? You know exactly what I'm saying?"

The two questions breaks through Rafs flood of thoughts like a Mastercraft at top speed. Confusion follows in the wake of this.

'Huh?'

"Of course I understand you. Your speaking English, right? With a few beeps leaking through. So where are we going Bumblebee?"

The car slowly starts again seeming to shakes of its shock.

"We're going back to the Autobot base."

"Autobot? What does that mean?"

"Well that is the name of our team. Optimus Prime our leader will be explaining all this. I can't do it as well as he can."

"Oh…"

A silence falls between the two, filled with awkwardness. Raf grins and lets loose a soft laugh. This reminds him too strongly of his first meeting with Hack. Seeing as the other boy isn't here, Raf decides to break the silence himself.

"Do you play videogames?"

The car, er, Bumblebee, seems to think the question over.

"I have played a few racing games."

"Those types are fun, especially against someone else. You are probably really good at them, since you are a car."

"Yeah that does give me an advantage."

"I have a racing game I can bring the next time. A friend and I play it alot. That is, if there is a next time."

"There most definitely will be a next time."

Raf nods and starts organizing the thoughts in his head. Riding inside a giant robot that can transform in and out of a car mode tends to scramble one's mind. Questions dance around, hoping for center stage on his tongue. Carefully he chooses one. Hesitantly he speaks it aloud, slightly fearful of offending the much larger being.

"What kind of energy do you run on? Normal gas and electricity do not seem like they would work."

"Umm… Energon."

"Energon? I have never heard of that before. How is it made?"

"I'm not even sure if it is made. I'm just a scout. I don't normally deal with the science parts."

"So what does a scout do?"

-Bumblebee, Autobot-

Bumblebee feels his discomfort with having a human with him fading. The topic of conversation had finally spun into a direction he could confidently speak about.

"I look ahead for danger and target points."

"So you help keep everyone safe?"

Bumblebee pauses for a second, thinking about it.

"Yes."

A moment later a large plateau appears in front of them. Driving off the road, Bumblebee starts going faster towards it. The human, Raf, stares at the giant rock looming closer and closer. Fear and excitement make him shift on the seat; his hands gently curl around the seat edges. When the wall breaks apart the small boy lets out a sound of amazement and relief.

-Raf, human-

'How did they do that? Wonder if me and Hack could figure it out. Hack probably could do it on his own.'

Quickly they drive down a long entrance driveway, slowing down only when they enter a large room. A large red and white robot looks down at them. Aggravation failingly hides in in his light blue….eyes? Raf is unsure if the names that humans called body parts would apply to these giant robots. Leaping out from the yellow car when it stops, Raf spots yet another robot and human. The human is a teen female with dual colored hair. She starts talking really quickly to the other robot, who is bigger than the others and green. All Raf could discern from her talking is that her name is Miko. Her energy kind of scares Raf. Quietly he moves away from the excited girl. The giant green robot seems a little thrown off by Miko's questioning, which reminds Raf of his own questions.

The red and white robot makes a snortlike sound, rolling it's eyes.

"Oh, please."

Loud footsteps from behind draw the attention of all the humans. Turning quickly Raf sees a giant red and blue robot that is taller than the rest.

"We are autonomous robotic organisms from the planet Cybertron also known as Autobots.

Jack walks forward, staring upwards.

"Then why are you here?"

"To protect your planet from the Decepticons."

'Decepticons? So these beings have two sides, who are most likely battling each other on our planet. Hack probably has some clue that this is going on. It must be somewhere within the government records that these beings exist and Hack had gone through most of the government's records. Though, if he did, why did he not tell me? The same reason I have for not telling him? To keep him safe? Whatever this turns into I hope he stays safe.'

Raf's thoughts whirl through his head, causing him to miss Arcee talking. He leaps back into reality when Jack speaks again.

"Okay, why are they here?"

'That's a fair question.'

Optimus leans down, creating what Raf had just thought. Quietly, Raf listens to Optimus explain the reason for the Decepticons presence. Raf feels a question bubble up and he lets it free.

"Why were you fighting a war?"

Listening intently, Raf stares in wonder at Optimus Prime as he speaks. (I'm not writing that speech. Sorry…)

-Soundwave, Decepticon -

Finally Megatron is returning. The deep space signal that Soundwave had found had indeed been his leader calling for a space bridge. Soon Starscream would be put back into the position of second in command . With that positive came a negative of more activity from the Decepticons, meaning an increased risk that something may happen to Raf. Mentally pushing back the thought, Soundwave take the news to Starscream. Providing all the evidence, Soundwave convinces the seeker to let him open a portal. Once Megatron comes through, Soundwave wonders how much things are going to change.


	12. Chapter 12

**Hello. Here it is. So long awaited by the people. But, alas, the writer is neglectful . Sighing sadly fixes little. There are some thanks in order for this finally being typed. Fubeck is the central reason. Another thanks to my editor. The greatest thanks goes to those who wrote comments, which upon viewing, made me embarrassed to not have updated and slightly proud. Thanks to one and all. If anyone has ideas, yell them out. It was fun including them into the story before and helps with the writing.**

Raf sits quietly inside of Bumblebees platform . Weariness from the excitement of the day drifts through him. Memories of the strange events of the day twirl through his mind, increasing his tiredness. It had been an odd day indeed. Hiding from a government agent, learning about alien tech., helping aliens with human tech., and trying to make new friends often tires a person. Raf leans back, relaxing slowly into the seat. His eyelids hover uncertainly, wanting to close, but desperately fighting to stay open. They finally slip closed. Yawning quietly, Raf presses his head against the seat belt. The hum of the engine and the sound of the road beneath the tires slowly fade out. When Raf regains consciousness, he finds that Bumblebee has parked a block from where he had told the cybertronian his house is. The alien robot lets out a series of beeps, none of which mean anything. Taking this as a signal to get up, Raf stretches, letting his joints pop.

"Thanks for the ride Bee."

"You're welcome."

The yellow car beeps happily back.

"See you tomorrow Raf."

"Bye Bumblebee!"

Raf jumps out of the car, smiling and waving. He starts walking towards his house, thinking of a decent explanation for his extreme tardiness. Raf frowns at the idea of having to lie to his mother about this. As much as he hates it, he loves her too much to get her or the rest of the family involved. Thinking silently, he approaches his house. What is he going to tell Hack? Raf could not tell him about his new friends, well not about them being giant alien robots. Explanations spin through his mind, swirling in with tons of regret and worry and worry. Lying and hiding information is definitely not his forte. A small rhyme twirls in, dancing carefully past all other thoughts and flutter to the front of his mind.

A wild wicked web we weave

When those held close are now deceived

Restless nights spent in bed

When thoughts of discovery dance through the head

Though sometimes the secret held is just

We lose so much of sacred trust

So please think first before every lie

Because something will happen, no matter what you try.

A feeling of queasiness drips into Raf's stomach as he readies his lie. Raf enters the house and is immediately snatched up by his mother. She scolds him in English and Spanish and tightens her hold on him. Later she loosens her deathly grip on him, and pushes him away from him.

"Where were you Raf? I was so worried! I tried calling Hack, but he said that you were not with him and that he had no idea where you were!"

"I was a club meeting that ran late. I'm sorry I forgot to tell you. My phone had ran out of battery and I didn't realise you couldn't get in touch with me. I'm sorry momma."

"It's alright. Just tell me next time."

"I will momma. They are meeting again tomorrow. May I go?"

"Yes. Why don't you ask Hack to join your group?"

"Maybe. I'm not sure if I can, it's kind of a school only club. I'll check."

"Do that honey. Now go talk to Hack, I'm sure he is wondering where you have been for so long."

"Okay momma."

Raf walks off to his room, a single tear sliding down his face. Shame of how easily the lies roll off his tongue, making him wish that he could run back and blurt out the whole truth to his mother. But he really doesn't want to involve her, especially since there is a large danger element involved. After reminding himself of his reasons for lying, Raf sits down in front of his computer. Knowing Hack, the other boy is likely to be waiting on their private network for him. Raf logs into the system, quickly entering the several passwords required. His computer beeps, informing him that Hack is also on, just as he had expected.

-Sorry about not talking to you. I had a club meeting and I forgot to tell anyone.-

\- Is that what you ment when you said you felt like something would happen?-

-Yeah, I guess. It's a computer club, though we mostly play games.-

-Make any friends?-

-I think so.-

-I assume that you will be spending a lot of time after school with this club.-

-Yes, but we are still going to hang out. What kind of friend would I be if abandoned you just because some other people popped up.-

-Not a very good one I suppose.-

-Right. So I'm not going to do that. Why would I abandon a great friend like you anyway?-

-I guess I'm guess I'm stuck with you, Raf.-

-Yes. Yes you are Hack.-

Soundwave is pleased to find that his friend wants to stay with him. Not that he really feared that Raf would leave completely him for others on a whim. The human child did not seem to operate that way. Silently Soundwave hopes to be able to meet these new friends of Rafs soon, to check that they would not harm his friend in any way. If they did, well, Soundwave s wrath is not legendary for no reason. He had been in the gladiator pit of Cybertron after all. Before talking to Raf, Soundwave;s day had been rather stressful. With Megatron back, all of the Decepticon army seemed to be going haywire. Never had such a complete mess had been made of the systems before now, and for the love of Primus, Soundwave hopped it would never happen again. Every Con was trying to inform all the other Cons of its same rank exactly what was going on. The stress it put on the communications system had almost been too much. It would have been too much if he had not stood at his post for so long. It almost fell to ruin when Soundwave was forced to report to Megatron on what exactly had gone on while he was in deep space. Since Soundwave was effective and straight to the facts the meeting was short, ending with the obligatory statement for Soundwave to keep watching and listening, Megatron had also requested that he arrange for a trip to the largest energon mine on the next human day. When it was all said and done Soundwave was glad to be able to relax and talk to his friend.

Breaking from his thoughts, he returns to his conversation with Raf.

-Hey Hack, I almost forgot that it is Friday.-

-Hacking Challenge?-

-Definitely. Give me a few minutes to pick a place and set up.-

Minutes tick by slowly as Soundwaves processor starts buzzing with excitement. Raf had been getting better and better at defending against Soundwave's hacking. The game of attack and defend had grown to be quite thrilling way to end the week when they were not physically hanging out.

Worries and lies from both parties slowly faded from the forefront of their minds as the two delved into their game. Deep in the recesses of both minds, the two beings hope that if the hope that if the truth is ever unsheathed that the other would not hate them for it. The night dances on with a chilling wind that whispers quietly of carefully spun webs of lies and the mornings rebirth of fears tucked away for now.


	13. Chapter 13

**It took getting wisdom teeth removal to finally sit down and type this chap. And I finally figured out the plot! *wink wink*. (Or maybe that's the drugs...meh) I'd like to say thank you for waiting and reviewing. You guys are awesome. Since I have some forced downtime I might be able to type some more. I dunno. By the by, lost my editor, she is now dealing with other issues, so all mistakes belong to me. A shout of love to her for dealing with this story in its beginning. A huge thanks to Fubeck who still helps with ideas. Now on to the story.**

Raf groans loudly when his cellphone rings, waking him up. The noise burns slowly at the edges of his sleep, stirring him further and further into wakefulness. On the fifth ring Raf regains enough mental processes to reach over and snatch up the phone. He answers it, sighing lightly before speaking.

"Hello. This is Raf speaking. Hack, if this is you I hope you have a reason for this call."{

"Oh, hi Raf. This is Bumblebee. Who is Hack?"

"Sorry Bumblebee. Hack's another friend of mine, do you want me to come out?"

"Yes. I was told to bring you to the base."

"Let me grab the game I promised to get and get ready. I'll be out soon."

"Alright Raf. See you when you get out."

Bumblebee sits quietly, waiting for the boy he had been assigned to guard. A soft hum stirs through his alt form, calmed and relaxed. The small human exits his dwelling and runs over to Bumblebee. He climbs into his alt form and Bumblebee drives off.

"Hey Bee! I got the game right here."

"Hi Raf. Awesome. Does it hook straight up to the TV?"

"Yes. Come on let's get to your base so we can play."

"Nope. Don't have to. Watch this."

Grinning internally, Bumblebee watches as Raf stares in open amazement as he transforms his radio into a small TV. He hears Raf softly mumbling then watches the boy as he smiles and quietly laughs.

"That was… Absolutely fantastic! And so very cool."

"Glad you think so. We can play now, right?"

Bumblebee feels excitement trickle through his voice, buzzing through his circuitry. The young human nods and plugs in the device. Slowly, Bumblebee steers off the road and turns on the screen. The game begins.

As they play, Raf feels a slight moment of deja vu. How similar this situation felt to his first time playing this game with Hack. A spec of regret twirls in his stomach as he thinks of his lie to his friend. How long would his feelings of guilt wait before making him betray the Autobots' existence to his friend? Raf plays the game, showing nothing of his internal conflict. Where should his loyalties lie? With the aliens that he had yet to really get to know, or his friend he knew he could trust.

Groaning when he loses, Raf laughs and complains at the unfairness. His worries gently slide away, darkly whispering promises for their return. Raf happily talks about normal aspects of human life as the pair ride off towards the base. Bumblebee has so many questions that the conversation lasts until they arrive.

Soundwave groans internally as he received the alert. Did they have to blow up a energies mine just because Optimus Prime Was there? Seriously, that was a major waste of resources. A thick sigh twirls gently through his processor. It seems he has been doing that a lot since Megatron had returned. Sometimes, when things like this happen and cause a huge workload to be dumped on him, he wants to throw his servos in the air and just quit. While Soundwave acknowledges that this would end with him bored once again, it would almost be worth the satisfaction of seeing Megatron's expression. Perhaps this would be easier if he had someone competent, like Raf to help him… Soundwave stores the idea in the back of his processor.

When the loud alarm had gone off inside the base, the intensity of the noise had scared Raf. The thing was ear-splitting, annoying, and had completely terrified him. Then they had gotten caught by the government agent who in turn had been captured by the Decepticons. The only good thing about the situation was that it had allowed Raf to show off his hacking skills. After that, Miko, who Raf was almost 75% sure had escaped from some mental institution, decided it would be a good idea to jump through the portal. That ended in the best way possible, really it did. Getting captured by giant enemy robots was on Raf's todo list for the day. Honest!

The whole situation had been terrifying, even when they had slipped away. The alien math problem had almost been worth the mini heart attacks he had about every three seconds. Almost. Then, of course, he had left his backpack. Jack had tried to stop him, but that bag held the DS Hack had given him. So he really could not leave the thing behind, thanks. When they finally had gotten back to base, Raf wanted to go home and bring the day to a close. This was enough for one day.

At present Raf is sitting on his bed staring at the ceiling. Jacks quitting had shaken the mood of the base, not that he would be gone for long. Raf new that between Miko and Arcee the older boy would be back. Meanwhile he had other things to worry over. Getting on his computer, he shoots Hack a message. After completing his homework and still not getting a reply, Raf puts his school work away and turns in for the night.

Raf had been on the warship.

Raf had been on the fragging warship!

Shock burns steadily through his circuits, stopping his processor from moving beyond this fact. Lazerbeak pushes his systems to reboot, hoping it will be enough to get him back to working properly. Slowly blinking his optics, Soundwave's shock is steadily replaced with anger. First off, those slagging Autobots had to go and recruit his only real friend into their ranks; then, as if the first occurrence was not bad enough, they had allowed Raf to go into a highly dangerous situation. Unfortunately he had not noticed that they were on the ship due to fixing a plethora of major technical bugs, or he have portaled his friend away.

Knowing that this pent up aggression would not end well for him or the whole ship, Soundwave begins planning a way to rid himself of it subtly. A plan against Starscream forms, seeing as it is mostly his fault for the whole event, having brought the secret agent on board. After rearranging a few reports and sending a personal report on the seeker's actions during Megatron's absence, Soundwave can feel his vengefulness falling down to a more manageable level. Seeing that Raf had messaged him hours earlier, he shoots back a message, requesting that they meet up tomorrow or Monday. Knowing that his human friend was not going to reply till morning, Soundwave begins messing with the United States Government Network. This released a bit more of his leftover anger.


	14. Chapter 14

**To be honest this is shorter than it ought to be but I needed this chapter purely so the next one could occur. Also reading back over it, it seems really filler, but make your own call when reading it. Lots of sighs and head banging. Good news: Can some what chew food. Bad news: can't eat hard candy, and Easter is tomorrow. Frag. Ah well. Thanks for the reviews, favorites, and follows. I'll try to put up the next chapter soon.**

 **Happy reading!**

Raf wants to cry or slam his head against the wall. The room that the kids had landed in was bare with a single computer within it. This mission is terrifying; sneaking into a government controlled facility with no permission somehow felt worse than hacking the same facility. Not that they had not tried the hacking method. Raf had attempted and failed to get in. He could have gotten in if given some time, but time was not a friend of theirs today, it seems.

So putting all the courage he had forward, Raf begins his hacking war against the Decepticons.

All is going well, with Raf being able to soothe himself and change the position of the dishes. The fight between the other hacker and him is simply amazing. Lines of code swirl though his mind as he dives deeper. Raf holds his control over the dishes and splices his focus in half as he starts drawing up barriers around them. The opposing hacker starts pushing back fiercely and knocks over his defenses. Moving to lock back onto Cybertron, the dishes are taken back by the Decepticons. Raf stabs back at the aggressive hacker, fighting tooth and nail through the ever thickening walls of code.

Quite suddenly his attention on the screen and the code held there is broken. A large, robotic tentacle arm swoops through the room. Hastily dodging it, Raf cannot help but compare it to one of Doctor Octopus's mechanical arms. The rest of the onslaught blurs quickly by. Raf vaguely remembers an axe being involved, courtesy of Miko.

After the arm leaves the room, he tests the computer and finds it impossible to change the direction of the dishes. Fear swirls deeply in his stomach as they dash into the next room where the central controls are located. Hearing movement, all three kids glance upwards. Raf's eyes widen as he observes the giant Decepticon.

'So that's who was against me. He looks really cool with that screen on his face area. Also a little bit intimidating. Or a lot.'

His eyes widen further as the mech takes a picture of them using his screen mask.

'Cool.'

This single thought passes through Raf's head as the Cybertronian transforms and flies away. Then a second thought blasts towards.

'I've seen that Decepticon symbol somewhere before…Before meeting any of the Cybertronians… But where?'

-—

Soundwave had though this situation could not get any worse, really, he had. He delivers the image of the kids to his leader, all of them slightly fuzzy, and with Raf more in distinct than the others, and leaves to retire to his room. If asked about the bad quality he would be sure to point the speed at which he took the photograph and the areas horrible lighting. The mech frowns deeply beneath his mask. There were multiple ways of dealing with the problem of his friend. One, forget about Raf and being his friend, two, kidnap Raf from the Autobots, three, convince Raf to join the Decepticons, etc. etc. So many different ways this situation could be handled. Soundwave groans loudly slams his head against his personal terminal. He the straightens, because he still had a job to do, even if stressed.

Raf sits silently in his room staring at the back of his yellow DS. The symbol engraved there dispassionately stares back. He sighs heavily, closing his eyes tight. The symbol is from the Decepticons. Hack had to have an alliance with the Decepticons in order for him to have put it on the device. Frustration curls deeply inside of Raf as he tries to figure out how he feels. Hack was his friend before anyone else ever was, but… Decepticons were violent towards humanity. Raf falls backwards onto his bed groaning. If Decepticons hated humans, how and why was Hack with them? Perhaps he was with them like Raf was with the Autobots, helping when he could, but mostly trying to stay out of the way.

Raf had agreed to meet up with Hack on Monday, so he would see him the next day. With a swift shake of his head, Raf shoves all his ideas from his brain. Deciding to act natural, Raf places the DS beside his bed along with his glasses. Shifting under the covers Raf closes his eyes and falls asleep.


	15. Chapter 15

**I love it when a plan comes together- Hannibal Smith**

Raf waves to Bumblebee. Running up to the car he prepares his explanation.

"Hey Bee. I can't come with you. I have a meeting with a friend today."

"Who?"

"His nickname is Hack. We have been friends for along time. We agreed to meet in the park."

"Okay. Let me inform Optimus… He says I need to patrol nearby in case Decepticons pop up."

"That's cool."

"That's cool. I think I'll walk there. See you later Bee."

"Bye Raf."

Raf walks off, heading toward the park. Nervousness curls in his stomach, reminding him of his first time meeting Hack in real life. He knew his friend had some sort of Decepticon affiliation, but he is unsure of why. Frustration slips into his mind cause inflammation him to kick the rocks scattered on the ground in front of him.

'If only I had known before…'

This stray idea becomes the focus of his thoughts.

'So what if I knew before I met the Autobots? I would have joined him, out of loyalty to our friendship. He has been the nicest anyone ever has been to me outside of my family. I would have probably never have joined the 'bots. Arg… This hurts my head.'

Raf spots his friend and jogs over to him. The older boy looks at him and frowns after his inspection. Hack shifts on his feet, sighing slightly, and, perhaps a bit resignedly.

"Why are you so nervous Raf? Is something wrong?"

"Yeah. A bit."

"What is it?"

"I know."

-—-

Soundwave freezes mentally. The statement that his friend had just made could be interpreted so many different ways. Deciding to remain as vague as his friend, Soundwave replies.

"What? That I hack the government? That I know tons of cheat codes?"

"No. I know about you working with the Decepticons."

Rear whispers the last word, filling it with a fear that Soundwave can almost taste due to its thickness.

"I take this to mean you're with the autobots."

Soundwave watches as his younger friend turns his head, shifting on his feet. Tension and fear sling through the air, condensing it till it could have been mistaken for a non gaseous substance. The two friends feel sadness, fear, and some anger their chests. Soundwave continues to observe his friend, who then takes a deep breath and faces back to Soundwave. Thoughts of losing his good friend blur in his head, along with the expectation of being yelled at. Might as well get the whole truth out.

"I'm not just working with the Decepticons. I am one. A cybertronian."

"You…," Raf breaths deeply again and sighs, shaking his head. He seems to be holding in any surprise he has at the statement.

"What are we going to do?"

"I don't know Raf."

Raf shifts on his feet again, running a hand through his hair as he looks to be thinking through the situation.

"So you've been non human this whole time?"

"Yes."

Soundwave is surprised as a laugh escapes from his friend.

"Technically, I never asked, so technically you never lied to me."

Then the young boy looks him dead in the face, seeming to come to an internal decision.

"You stood by my side when I needed you, and helped me when no one else could. Do you want me to change sides?"

Soundwave jerks backwards at his friend's suggestion. Shock shoots through his system like a bolt of lightning. He briefly considers the option and finds it to be an interesting thought. Raf stands looking up at him, unreadable expression on his face.

"It would be… irresponsible of me to ask you the side that is basically against you species."

Raf scuffs the toe of his shoe in the dirt, looking down while sticking his hands in his pockets.

"You're not against me. Plus the Decepticons are more here for the energon hidden on the planet. If they really were against humanity, they easily could have killed so many by now."

Soundwave stares at his friend, curling his holoforms hands.

"You are an exceptional case, but I suppose you are logical in your reasoning out of our purpose here."

Raf looks back up at the dark tinted sunglasses of Soundwave's holoform. However the con continues to speak, not allowing Raf to respond.

"Still I am conflicted with you even being involved with either side."

The con watches as his friend narrows his eyes behind his red rectangular glasses.

"Too bad. I'm involved. I don't want to stand against you Hack. You are my first and truest friend, even if you are a cybertronian. Please…"

Raf curls his hands, turns, and walks to their normal bench. Lazerbeak pushes the mech to follow, murmuring how she agreed with the sparkling. In truth, Soundwave knew he could not keep his young friend from staying involved, and did not wish to face against his good friend again. When both of them sit in the bench facing forward, Raf slouches into the sturdy wood, stress and confusion curling around him. Soundwave sighs, then turns to his friend.

"If you wish, you can change sides. But we'll have to be careful, especially since you have already interacted with the side of the Autobots."

Raf straightens up, turns to his friend, and smiles brightly at him.

"I want to be on your side."

His friend nods once, making Raf give a sigh of relief. He still feels worry over making this decision. Hack speaks nice more.

"I'll, no, we'll figure the best way to do this."

Raf nods, smiling. Then, with all the stress and fear flushing out of his system, pulls out his DS.

"Yeah, we will. Hey, I got two questions."

Hack returns his smile and makes a movement with his arm that indicates the allowance of the questions. Raf's smile grows.

"Number one, where you the con that I got into a hacking battle with?"

Hack nods and Raf fist bumps the air at being right.

"I knew it felt familiar. Okay, number two, want to play me, I need to pay you back for our last battle."

The brown haired boy waves his DS as an indication of his meaning. A wider grin skirts over his friend's face as he pulls out his DS. They begin to play, letting the thoughts of the future rest in the back of their minds, unbothered, till later, of what is to come.

-–-

 **As you may have noticed, there is no real author's note at the beginning of this chapter. It is here at the end, due to it being more conclusionary. This chapter is where the story stops, as I have no plans for its forward motion. I know that can be frustrating, believe me I know. I just have nothing else to bring to the table for this story at the moment. Will there ever be a sequel? Maybe. I love these characters and will miss having them bouncing in my head. If anyone has a suggestion on where to go from here, I would love having the opportunity of hearing it. If I do add a sequel I'll put the update on this story, somehow. Can any one else take this idea and write about it? Yes. I wrote this story because I felt the world needed more stuff like it. If the creative sense hits you, don't be afraid to run with this idea, or even change what you disliked about my version of it. That is the purpose of fanfiction after all.**

 **I'd like to thank everyone who has reviewed and brightened my day. I love looking at them when I feel down. Thank you for the ideas, and especially to you Fubeck, for dealing with me. Thank you all for the patience for waiting for this thing to be published. (To be honest I never was sure if I was ever going to get through this). So that's the end of this story. If you like the way I write then come to my other fics, if you miss my voice(words) pm me ( I like talking to people),if none of these apply, have a nice day and see you later.**

 **Sorry for the length of this. As my friends always said, don't let a Southerner go on a ramble, you might be dead before the end of it.**


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